VietNamNet Bridge - The APEC forum is seen as a playground in which the players have a wide variety of attentions and interests. To keep this field attractive is not easy. It is important for all to see the benefits and opportunities so that the playground can attract their interest, especially the great powers.

APEC 2017: Issues and prospects after 2020

On October 23rd, at a conference room for the "Russian World" Center in Moscow, Russian Federation, the workshop "APEC 2017: Issues and Prospects after 2020" took place. Through cooperation in the APEC region, important issues for Russia-Vietnam bilateral cooperation were discussed at the workshop, especially the ability of Russia and Vietnam to contribute to shaping APEC's agenda after 2020.

Prof. Dr. Anosova Ludmila, Deputy Head of Social Sciences Faculty at the Russian Academy of Sciences,  and Senior Strategist of the Russian Strategic Center in Asia, said that the initiatives and topics that Vietnam had presented show a strategic vision for a common future of APEC which meet the interests of the member economies and are suited to the general trend in international cooperation.

Director of the APEC Research Center of the National Institute of Economics and Administration under the Russian President, Tachiana Flegontova, said: "Russia is very supportive of the priorities Vietnam has put in place this year, especially priority on promoting inclusive economic, financial and social cohesion in line with world concerns."

A senior APEC official from Russia, Valery Sorokin, was quoted by the VNA as saying that Russia is very interested in the initiatives that Vietnam has put in place, particularly the draft of common action plans within APEC to strengthen economic, financial and social development.

In fact, over the past years, Russia has participated in these initiatives in a very active way and has made recommendations on the issues, one of which is securing economic development in remote areas. This is a program of the Government of Russia and is now compatible with the initiative of Vietnam.

With regard to the upcoming projects of Russia in the framework of APEC, in addition to the initiatives on development in remote areas, Russia has also focused on technology development such as cluster policy, high technology market development, and regional integration. 

To this end, Russia attaches importance to a number of important tasks at the APEC Summit 2017 in Da Nang: adding to the agenda the regional integration of Russia's partners in EAEC, and in particular the issue of inclusive development, the obligation of countries in terms of environmentally friendly goods.

Possible opportunities

Mr. Vo Tri Thanh, Chairman of the National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, said at the seminar. Photo: VTV

In general, Russian experts have the same view: Russia considers Vietnam as the door to the ASEAN region in particular and Asia in general; the two countries have many similar points in the APEC 2017 priorities in the context that Russia needs to further diversify trade agreements, seek and dominate the market, while Vietnam is facing a favorable opportunity to penetrate a very large market, namely the Eurasian Economic Union, with Russia as the leading economy.

Prof. Dr. Trigubenko Maria Evghenievna, a senior expert at the Russian Strategic Center for Asia in the Institute of Economics, the Russian Academy of Sciences, also noted that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Vietnam has made positive impacts, contributing to a significant increase in two-way trade turnover. 

He cited that in seven months (10/2016 - 4/2017), trade between the EAEU and Vietnam increased 28% thanks to the exemption and reduction of import tax, which facilitated the increase of export turnover from EAEU countries to Vietnam and vice versa.

Attending the workshop “APEC 2017: Issues and prospects after 2020”, Dr. Vo Tri Thanh said: "Russia and Vietnam in APEC are quite special. First of all, both Russia and Vietnam joined APEC after 1998. Therefore, mutual support, learning and sharing of good experiences between the two countries, as well as with other APEC member countries, is very positive for the integration and development of both Russia and Vietnam.”

In addition, Russia and Vietnam are strategic partners and have very close traditional ties. Russia and Vietnam have recently had free trade agreements between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union.

Indeed, there are a number of Free Trade Agreements in APEC, so the Free Trade Agreement between Russia and Vietnam should be integrated into the Asia-Pacific region, as well as other FTAs. 

In the Asia-Pacific region, the production network and value chain are very developed, so if Russia and Vietnam - through this Free Trade Agreement - are associated with value chains and other Free Trade Agreements in APEC, it will bring about significant benefits to both countries.

Bich Van