HCM CITY – Vietnamese companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, should thoroughly learn about the country’s commitments under the Trans-Pacific Partnership, especially about the opening up of certain sectors to foreign investors, to seize opportunities and overcome challenges, a seminar heard in HCM City yesterday.

Ngô Chung Khanh, deputy head of the Government’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department, said enterprises are learning little about the commitments.

Việt Nam’s TPP negotiation delegation has urged businesses to send in inquiries related to the TPP, “but we have not received any question in the last four months.”

The TPP would offer businesses the opportunity to boost exports and take part in the global supply chain, and the country’s investment and business environment would surely improve, facilitating businesses’ operations, he said.

But only firms that prepare well would succeed, he said.

Trần Hữu Huỳnh, chairman of the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s International Trade Policy Advisory Committee, said foreign-invested firms, who usually prepare well, have benefited from free trade agreements the country has signed, while Vietnamese firms have not.

Phạm Ngọc Hưng, deputy chairman of the HCM City Union of Business Associations, said many SMEs are unclear about the provisions of the TPP, and this would prevent them from capitalising on its opportunities and coping with the challenges.

They do not know where to get information about the deal, how to declare certificates of origin to enjoy tariff benefits and about trade barriers, he said.

Khanh said retail is among the sectors that would face intense competition in the coming years since the country has to open its doors wide to foreign investors and scrap the “economic needs test” requirements five years after the TPP takes effect.

The VCCI yesterday released a handbook on TPP in Vietnamese for the benefit of enterprises.

Nguyễn Thị Thu Trang, director of the VCCI’s WTO Centre, said every business individual and organisation should improve their knowledge about the trade deal and commitments, especially those affecting their business. — VNS