Impacts of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) onthe Vietnamese economy were unveiled at a conference held in Ho Chi MinhCity on July 10.

RCEP is a free trade agreement among the ASEANbloc and six other partners: China, Japan, the Republic of Korea,Australia, New Zealand and India. RCEP negotiations were officiallylaunched by leaders of the 16 participating nations in 2012.

Speakingat the conference, Vice Director of the Central Institute forEconomic Management (CIEM) Vo Tri Thanh highlighted that RCEP isrelevant to Vietnam’s outlook on fostering economic integration withcomprehensive economic reforms.

Pham Binh An, Director of the WTOIntegration Support Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, said the RCEP pactstipulates drastic reductions on trade tariffs, which will have majorpositive influences on Vietnam as the country is experiencing a tradedeficit with some of the regional nations.

Vietnamese enterprisesneed to map out effective import-export strategies, he underscored,saying RCEP commits to cut down a raft of tariffs, restructuring tradeamong well-developed countries in the region.

He added that RCEPis a crucial institution in international economic integration,affecting 48 percent of the global population and 30 percent of theinternational economic productivity.

Experts at the conferenceagreed that Vietnam is proactively joining international integrationthrough participating in RCEP and other free trade agreements. Thecountry is fostering joint-ventures while furthering trade with foreignpartners and encouraging the establishment of multinationalcorporations.

Apart from 10 signed free trade pacts, Vietnam ispushing negotiations for the Europe- Vietnam Free Trade Agreement(EVFTA) and Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement forward.-VNA