Deputies in favour of the need to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Deputies in favour of the need to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) were the majority at the National Assembly (NA) meeting on November 2, agreeing that it is a high-quality, new generation pact.

Working in groups at the ongoing sixth plenum of the 14th National Assembly, they said the CPTPP is a strong motive for Vietnam to improve its capacity and diversify its market in response to complicated global economic performance and the rising tide of protectionism. Further, they added, joining the pact affirms the country’s commitment to global integration, as well as its role and position in Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific.

CPTPP will pave the way for the Southeast Asian country to accelerate negotiations and successfully sign other free trade deals, like the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Tran Hoang Ngan, a deputy from Ho Chi Minh City, said that the first opportunity Vietnam can seize from the CPTPP is in promoting international integration, as well as completing the market mechanism in a stronger and more advanced manner. 

Vietnam should create high-quality products with competitive prices to serve the demands of CPTPP member states who have high income per capita and huge demand in consumer markets, Ngan added.

Sharing the same viewpoint, Pham Khanh Phong Lan from Ho Chi Minh City believed that Vietnamese exports, particularly vegetables, fruit, and seafood, will enjoy preferential tax lines, thus gaining competitive edge over the same products of rivals. 

She said that local enterprises should make rational investments to prevent heavy loss.

However, some deputies feared that the CPTPP will challenge Vietnamese trade, investment, service, agriculture, budget collection, intellectual property, labour, and information safety. They said that economic development disparity will be one of the major effects.

Regarding some key labour and employment issues upon joining CPTPP, Ngo Duy Hieu from Hanoi said that the Government should work to complete mechanisms related to labour and trade unions. Completing the amendments for the Labour Code is an important requirement, he suggested. 

VNA