Tension, angst and mistrust pervade today’s global trade landscape. The multilateral trading system that has governed the international flow of commerce over the past 70 years is being tested in ways that threaten its relevance and continued existence. Most striking of all, the United States, the traditional guardian of the system, is the one shaking things up.
Even if free trade is ultimately broadly beneficial, the fact remains that as trade has become freer, inequality has worsened. One major reason for this is that current global trade rules have enabled a few large firms to capture an ever-larger share of value-added, at a massive cost to economies, workers, and the environment.
China, in an implicit recognition that at least some of its Belt and Road-related projects risk trapping target countries in debt or fail to meet their needs, has conceded that adjustments may be necessary.
According to a survey conducted late last year, 82 per cent of Vietnamese businesses have not taken steps to prepare for the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), while just 10 per cent said they were ready, Minister of Industry and Trade Trần Tuấn Anh said during a session themed “Digital Market, Global Opportunity” held on Thursday as part of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Hà Nội.
The Association of the Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) will have to improve internal trade to reduce dependence on outside partners and boost the region’s economic growth, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) senior officials.
Vietnam’s government will use a combination of trade deals and domestic reforms to survive the fallout from a U.S.-China trade war, according to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
The Vietnam trade balance in the first eight months of 2018 showed a surplus of $2.8 billion. Yet, if counted only the export turnover in August, there is a trade deficit of nearly $100 million, which is a worrisome warning.
Vietnam — with its economy growing at its fastest pace in eight years in the first half of 2018 — is defying the stress in emerging markets as its Southeast Asian rivals face an uncertain outlook driven by trade war risks and a stronger dollar.
The World Economic Forum on ASEAN (WEF ASEAN) themed “ASEAN 4.0: Entrepreneurship and the Fourth Industrial Revolution” kicked off in Hanoi on September 11.
The World Economic Forum on ASEAN WEF ASEAN slated for September 11 13 in Hanoi will offer a chance for countries to share experience in utilising opportunities and addressing challenges generated by the fourth Industrial Revolution.
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