The impacts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on investment attraction and trade in Vietnamese localities was a major focus of a seminar held in the central city of Da Nang on October 30. Herb Cochran, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Vietnam, suggested developing logistics and new factors for a sustainable growth with better competitiveness. Nestor Scherbey, head of the AmCham’s customs and trade facilitation working group, said intermediate goods account for 60 percent of global trade while more than 30 percent of transactions are undertaken by a corporation’s affiliates. Multi-national companies must align the global supply chain with the TPP’s rules of origin (ROO) to be entitled to tariff incentives for the end-products, he said. According to him, almost multi-national conglomerates in Vietnam import materials and intermediate goods that require further processing before they are sold abroad. The deal’s ROO will afford Vietnamese firms a chance to become a supplier of foreign-invested and other companies in the global supply chain. Apart from the recent positive changes in the customs law and relevant administrative procedures, he said there should be further improvement in State management regulations for goods subject to specialised inspection. The government and business associations need to build and launch new personnel training courses as soon as TPP’s details are announced, he added. Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee Phung Tan Viet hailed the TPP as an opportunity and challenge for local enterprises and urged them to gear up for the global economic integration through the deal. The event was co-hosted by the Party Committee of the municipal business bloc, the Da Nang chapter of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the municipal Association of Young Entrepreneurs and the Investment Promotion Centre.-VNA