Women walk near a Citibank branch in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: Reuters

But the hopes could be belied if Vietnam does not improve its business environment

Vietnam’s textile and garment exports to the US from January to November 2015 have reached US$9.98 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.7 percent. It is expected to gain much higher with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) taking effect. According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), during the 11 months, Vietnam’s textile and garment export value to its other major export markets was also optimistic with $3.09 billion to the EU, $2.53 billion to Japan and $1.98 billion to South Korea.

Luong Hoang Thai, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department and the deputy head of Viet Nam’s negotiator delegation at the TPP deal, said that the tax value that Vietnamese textile, garment, leather and footwear exporters currently have to pay for the US, is higher than that of other TPP member countries.

The local enterprises must pay a total tax value of $1.17 billion for exporting textile and garment products to the US market.

Therefore, Viet Nam was successful in negotiating with the US to reduce the tariff for Vietnamese textile, garment products from an average rate at 17 percent to zero under commitments of the TPP, Thai said.

To join the zero tariffs, the local exporters must meet origin regulations from material for production under TPP agreement to prevent neighbouring countries from exporting their products to Viet Nam and then shipping to other countries.

The TPP agreement also has flexible mechanisms for Viet Nam in supplying material when Viet Nam does not yet have enough domestic material supply.

The General Department of Customs said that the country’s export value of textile and garment reached $20.6 billion in the first 11 months. Therefore, the local textile and garment industry needs a total export value of $2.4 billion in December to meet the yearly target in textile and garment for this year at $23 billion.

Tran Viet, head of Vinatex’s Legal and General Affairs Department at its press conference on production and business of the group this year held in Ha Noi yesterday said that Viet Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), Viet Nam’s largest textile and garment producer, was estimated to achieve a year-on-year export value of 10 per cent to $3.4 billion for this whole year.

However, the group’s pre-tax profit was predicted to reach VND1.35 trillion ($60 million) for this year, similar to the rate in 2014, because depreciation of currencies in some other textile and garment exporting countries such as China, India and Indonesia affected Vinatex’s production and business results in 2015, he said.

This year, the group’s exports to major markets was expected to gain, including a growth rate at 12.95 percent to the US, 5.96 percent to the EU, 7.95 percent to Japan and 8.77 percent to South Korea against 2014.

The growth was due to positive production and business from large Vinatex’s member companies, including Phong Phu Joint Stock Company, Hoa Tho Textile and Garment Joint Stock Corporation, and Viet Tien Garment Corporation, in addition to Garment 10 Corporation and Duc Giang Corporation.

With positive forecasts for domestic garment exports, Vinatex expected next year’s growth of 8 per cent in its total revenue and 10 percent in total export value against 2015.

By YNFX/ Globaltextiles

23/12/2015

Quote from: “http://www.globaltextiles.com/info/detail/001-20383/Vietnam-garment-exports-to-US-reach-US$9.98bn-in-11-months-of-2015.html“

Vietnamese textiles and garment exports will possibly hit US$27.1 billion this year, an increase of more than 10 percent from 2014, local media reported.

Local producers shipped $20.63 billion worth of textile and garment products in the first 11 months, up 8.9 percent from the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by Vietnam Customs.

The US was Vietnam’s largest market with $9.88 billion worth of apparel, up 11.7 percent. EU and Japan were ranked second and third with imports of $3.09 billion and $2.53 billion.

Vietnam’s textiles and garment shipment has been rising strongly, even though there were no remarkable increases in its major markets, such as the US, whose imports rose 4.8 percent year-on-year, news website Saigon Times Online quoted Vinatex representative Tran Viet as saying. Vinatex is the country’s biggest apparel producer.

Viet said, despite the sharp increase in revenues, Vietnamese exporters’ profits have not risen accordingly as they have had to cut their margin to compete with other exporters such as China, India and Indonesia.

In the past few months, these countries have depreciated their currencies, which have in turned made their products cheaper, he said.

Vinatex expected to record exports of $3.4 billion this year, but its profit will be equal to last year’s, around VND1.35 trillion ($59.86 million).

BRUSSELS (VNS) — The European Parliament (EP) adopted an official resolution ratifying the Viet Nam – EU Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA), at a plenary session in Strasbourg city, France, yesterday.

The resolution welcomes Viet Nam’s outcomes in doi moi (renewal) and integration over the past time and hails the country’s role and position in regional and global arena.

It said co-operation between the EU and Viet Nam has developed rapidly since they established diplomatic ties 25 years ago, moving from an initial focus on trade and aid to co-operation and comprehensive partnership.

The EP stressed that the signing of the PCA with Viet Nam demonstrates the strategic significance of the Southeast Asian country as a key partner of the EU in the region and ASEAN.

The parliament committed to widening and deepening the Viet Nam-EU relations across sectors such as social affairs, democracy, human rights, and settlement of regional and global challenges.

In its resolution, the EP expressed its deep concerns over illegal and unilateral actions that cause tensions in the East Sea, threatening peace, security, stability, international trade and fundamental benefits of the EU in the region as well as navigation safety and freedom on the union’s main maritime trade routes.

The EP calls for more efforts from China and parties involved to reduce tensions in the East Sea while stressing it is necessary to address disputes via peaceful means, building trust, and holding bilateral and regional negotiations on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

French Senate ratifies agreement

Also yesterday, the Viet Nam-EU Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) sailed through the Senate of France in Paris with 100 per cent of the vote.

The PCA is a framework agreement that looks to adjust the relationship between Viet Nam and the EU and replaces the 1995 Viet Nam-EC Framework Co-operation Agreement.

The deal allows Viet Nam to access the EU market more easily on the basis of the equal, long-term, and stable partnership and comprehensive co-operation.

Signed on June 27, 2012, the pact will come into force after it is ratified by all EU members.

Speaking at a discussion in Paris, Annick Girardin, Minister of State for Development and Francophony, elaborated on the French Government’s views which lauded developments in the comprehensive co-operation between Viet Nam and France over the past time, especially in economics, trade and investment.

She commented on the increasing bilateral trade and the stronger flow of French investments in the Southeast Asian nation.

Helene Conway-Mouret from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces of the Senate, presented a draft law which is comprised of eight chapters and 65 articles stipulating economic, trade and investment ties, development co-operation as well as the collaboration in justice, education, training, health care and the environment between the two nations.

The majority of the senators at the event echoed the French Government’s views on the fruitful Viet Nam-France relations.

They agreed that the agreement should be soon ratified in order to create a legal framework for the affiliation between Viet Nam and the EU, including the Viet Nam-France relations.

Michel Billout, senator from Seine – et – Marne, held that the PCA will pave the way for a mutually beneficial and more intensive and sustainable co-operation framework between Viet Nam and the EU.

He explained that the EU is Viet Nam’s leading economic and trade partner and the country’s important importer.

The PCA, along with the strategic partnership signed by Viet Nam and France in September 2013, is expected to contribute to driving the bilateral relations towards a new period in a more effective and intensive fashion, meeting each side’s demand for development, he said.

Noting with joy the Senate’s ratification of the agreement, Helene Luc, a former French senator and Honorary President of the France-Viet Nam Friendship Association, said the approval has translated the resolve to promote the two countries’ relations into a legal document that advance the bilateral ties to match the strategic partnership.

By VNS

18/12/2015

Quote from: “http://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/280061/european-parliament-adopts-viet-nam-eu-partnership-agreement.html“

Japan should aim to reach a free-trade agreement with the European Union next year or risk undermining EU interest in a deal, the 28-nation bloc’s chief negotiator warned.

Mauro Petriccione said an EU-Japan FTA could be struck within months after two-and-a-half years of talks if Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe commits to scrapping import duties on European foods and drinks, scaling back non-tariff barriers for cars and opening up public procurement in the railway industry. In exchange, the EU is prepared to eliminate its tariff on autos from Japan and ease access to Europe for Japanese executives.

“For us, 2016 is very possible, it’s very desirable from a European point of view,” Petriccione told reporters on Thursday in Brussels. “If we don’t make it in 2016, we’ll have to explain why and we can’t exclude a resurgence of the skepticism toward the possibility of an EU-Japan FTA that we had before we started.”

In the shadow of EU-U.S. commercial talks, Europe and Japan are seeking an accord to expand their more than 100 billion euros ($108 billion) in annual goods trade and over 40 billion euros in services transactions. Japan is the EU’s No. 2 trade partner in Asia, after China. A commercial deal between Brussels and Tokyo would follow European agreements with South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and Canada and the Trans-Pacific Partnership among nations including Japan and the U.S.

15th Round

With the 15th round of EU-Japan trade talks due to take place in February, Petriccione said the moment has come for compromises needed for an agreement.

“We have explained our position to each other ad nauseam,” he said. “We know the Japanese position inside out and Japan knows our position inside out. It’s time that we move on and start to say ‘OK, what is the compromise?’”

The EU insists that Japan remove tariffs on European foods such as chocolate, pasta, tomato paste and cheese, according to Petriccione. The bloc would refrain from demanding duty-free access to the Japanese market for “sensitive” farm goods in Japan such as rice, beef and pork, he said.

“It is proving difficult and more difficult than we had envisaged,” Petriccione said. “We are very competitive in all sorts of processed agricultural products. We don’t really see why the very large majority of European exports, including the agricultural sector, are threatening Japanese interests. We can see a few commodities where there may be an issue.”

Japanese Pledges

The EU also wants firmer Japanese pledges to remove non-tariff barriers for European cars in exchange for phasing out the bloc’s 10 percent duty on autos from Japan. The European goal is to ensure that vehicle standards and administrative regulation in Japan don’t unduly impede market access, according to Petriccione.

“We need to have a guarantee that the reduction in costs that our producers will enjoy when they sell to the Japanese market is comparable to the reduction in costs that the tariff elimination will bring to Japanese producers when they sell in Europe,” he said. “We’re not against a speedy elimination if we can justify it.”

Regarding public procurement, Petriccione said Europe’s biggest gripe with Japan has been the country’s practice of subjecting the rail market to an “operational safety clause” that lacked transparency.

“Until recently, we were never even told how that clause operated,” he said. “For us, cleaning that up is essential.”

An initial accord with Japan on this point needs to be followed up with more Japanese concessions for the European railway-equipment industry.

“They will maintain a safeguard clause,” he said. “The question is: how do they apply it to a preferential partner who can offer high-quality, safe equipment?”

By Jonathan Stearns

Bloomberg

17/12/2015

Quote from: “http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-17/japan-is-pressed-by-eu-to-reach-free-trade-agreement-in-2016“

SEJONG, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) — The free trade pact between South Korea and Vietnam will go into effect on Dec. 20, and will help fuel trade and expand investment opportunities, the government said Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Seoul and Hanoi agreed on the effective date through diplomatic channels, with both sides wanting the pact to come into force as soon as possible.

After starting negotiations in September 2012, the two sides formally signed the free trade agreement (FTA) on May 5, with South Korea’s National Assembly approving the trade agreement on Nov. 30.

“With the FTA to be placed within the year, companies from the two trading partners can benefit from more tariff cuts starting Jan. 1,” the ministry said.

It said that under the deal, tariffs would go down at the start of every new year, so 2016 will mark the “second year” of rate cuts.

The ministry in charge of trade and industry promotion said that with the FTA in place, it will become easier for local companies to do business in the Southeast Asian country.

Seoul agreed to open 94.7 percent of its market, while corresponding numbers for Hanoi will reach 92.4 percent.

“The FTA will also create a more stable business and investment environment,” it said.

This is important because Vietnam is South Korea’s third-largest export market after China and the United States. In the first 10 months of this year, outbound shipments to the country topped US$23.39 billion.

The ministry said that besides textiles and car parts, the bilateral FTA will open Vietnam up to South Korean consumer electronics and even cosmetics. The latter could provide more export opportunities for South Korea’s medium-size enterprises.

The pact will, moreover, allow greater access to Vietnam’s service sector.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in Sejong City. (Yonhap file photo)

By Yonhap

16/12/2015

Quote from: “http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2015/12/16/0503000000AEN20151216007000320.html“