The National Assembly (NA) is reviewing and completing legal procedures that best suit the content of the TPP and will consider ratifying it shortly, NA Deputy Chairman Phung Quoc Hien has said.

At a meeting on August 25 with the US-ASEAN Business Council, Mr. Hien said he expected the US Congress to also ratify the agreement shortly.

The TPP was agreed upon by its 12 members in Atlanta, Georgia, in December 2015 and signed in February this year in New Zealand. It now needs to be ratified by the parliaments of the 12 members before coming into effect. Discussions have been heated at times in the US regarding its pros and cons.

At the meeting with the US-ASEAN Business Council on August 25, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized that the Vietnamese Government has completed a dossier for the ratification of the TPP and the NA is set to consider it in October, according to the government’s news portal.

The US-ASEAN Business Council, led by its Chairman Alexander C. Feldman, visited Vietnam this time with 37 leading US businesses. According to Mr. Feldman, the TPP is a milestone in promoting the countries’ trade and investment relationships and their governments and businesses strongly support the expansion of economic, trade and investment relations. “US companies hope that Vietnam will soon ratify the deal,” Mr. Feldman was quoted as saying.

Vietnam is viewed as becoming one of the major beneficiaries from the TPP, whose signatories account for some 40 per cent of global GDP and 30 per cent of global trade.

In an interview with VET on August 25, Ambassador of Vietnam to the US, H.E. Pham Quang Vinh, said that Vietnam should have a back-up plan if the TPP is not ratified as planned, especially by the US due to its presidential election.

“Everyone gains from the TPP, even the US,” Ambassador Vinh said. “However, the main point here is that economic benefits will be mixed with strategic benefits.”

“With or without the TPP, Vietnam must reform its economy to permit greater integration into the global economy,” he added. “Vietnam should take the initiative and fully prepare quickly for integration.”

Since Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are said to be against the TPP, Emeritus Professor Carl Thayer from the Australian Defence Force Academy recommended that Vietnam stay abreast of the two candidates’ policies.

“Vietnamese diplomats in the US should keep themselves fully informed of the policies of both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump,” he told VET. “Vietnamese diplomats need to sound out officials likely to be in the new administration on whether or not they will support the passage of the TPP.”

VN Economic Times