Boosting the forum’s profile and making its activities more practical and effective will be Viet Nam’s focus as it prepares to host APEC Year 2017, Deputy Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn said yesterday.
Addressing a press conference on the event in Hà Nội, he said APEC Year 2017 will be a major focus of Việt Nam’s external activities in the context of intensive and extensive international integration.
Hosting the event also affirms Việt Nam’s wish to make more contributions to building and shaping multilateral co-operation mechanisms, including the APEC, he said.
Sơn highlighted expectations that Việt Nam has in organising the event, including making APEC co-operation more practical and effective with completion of the Bogor goals in trade and investment liberalisation.
Việt Nam also hopes to enhance the position of APEC as a leading forum, pioneering in the formation of deep and wide regional linkages, fostering peace, stability, co-operation and development, he said.
The country also wishes to strengthen friendship and partnership with leading partners while promoting a Việt Nam that is innovative and dynamic in its pursuit of international integration, he added.
Through APEC Year 2017, Việt Nam will have a chance to boost public awareness of the forum, he said.
Stressing the benefits that hosting the event will bring to localities, enterprises and people, the Deputy FM said that as the host of the event, Việt Nam expects to welcome tens of thousands of delegates to 200 activities across the country, opening up great opportunities for localities to attract visitors and advertise their products to APEC partners and world-leading businesses.
Vietnamese enterprises, especially small and medium-sized ones, will have numerous opportunities to access the huge market that all member economies present, he said.
They can also establish links with potential strategic partners, enjoy favourable investment and businesses environments and take advantage of advanced technology, he said.
Vietnamese people will also have more choices in employment, goods, services, healthcare, education and tourism thanks to programmes that APEC is implementing on people-to-people contact and tourism promotion, Son added.
To tap all the opportunities, he urged localities nationwide to prepare well, especially in infrastructure development and workforce training.
On the outcomes of the recent informal APEC senior officials’ meeting, the Deputy FM said hundreds of experts, scholars, business representatives and leaders of ministries and localities of Việt Nam were in attendance.
Broad support
He said APEC member economies voiced their support for the orientation, theme and priorities of the APEC Year 2017.
These include strengthening regional economic connectivity, fostering sustainable, creative and inclusive growth, supporting micro, small and medium firms and those led by women, and enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture.
Participants also agreed on a timetable for APEC Year 2017, he said. He noted that the official website of APEC Year 2017 has become operational at apec2017.vn.
Smooth handover
Also yesterday, Peru officially handed over the Chair’s mantle for APEC 2017 to Việt Nam at the Informal Senior Official Meeting (ISOM) of APEC members.
Việt Nam presented four priorities it has set for the coming event: Sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth; regional economic connectivity; improving the competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); food security and the development of sustainable farming in response to climate change.
Approving these priorities, participants said building a new growth momentum was key to helping APEC prove its leadership and pioneering role in boosting economic recovery and connectivity across the region in the context of the current global slowdown.
They proposed that APEC promotes sustainable and inclusive growth models that generate equal benefits for everyone.
They also highlighted the necessity of organising more communication campaigns on the benefits that APEC programmes can bring to businesses and people in the region.
Chairing the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn stated that all proposals made by participating countries were important in setting the direction for APEC activities over the next 12 months.
The comments from all members will be studied and integrated into the official list of priorities for APEC 2017 to be passed at the first Senior Official Meeting (SOM1) slated for March 2017 in the central city of Nha Trang, he said.
Next year, Việt Nam will also organise about 200 APEC events across 10 major cities, with the biggest being the APEC week in Đà Nẵng in November, he added. — VNS
Textile industry urged to develop supply chain
Vietnamese textile and garment companies should focus more on developing their supply chain to enable them to capitalise on opportunities arising from free trade agreements, a panel discussion heard in HCM City this week.
Many foreign investors have been attracted to Việt Nam, especially after the recent signing of free trade agreements, including the EU-Việt Nam FTA, Phạm Xuân Hồng, chairman of the HCM City Association of Garment Textile Embroidery and Knitting, said.
The delegates agreed that FTAs bring opportunities but also challenges and risks for Vietnamese companies.
Oliver Massmann, general director of Duane Morris LLC and chairman of legal sector committee of the European Chamber of Commerce in Việt Nam, said the so-called fabric-forward rule of origin under the EU-Việt Nam FTA is a challenge for Vietnamese garment and textile companies.
Việt Nam depends on imported raw materials from China, Korea and Taiwan, and the sector does not create much value addition in the supply chain since it merely does low value-added work such as cut-make-trim services to transform fabric into garments to export, he said.
“A domestic supply chain must be established.”
Yarn production must now go together with weaving and dyeing, but environmental protection must be ensured, he said.
The FTAs would result in more foreign investment in Việt Nam in untapped parts of the value chain, and local companies would benefit from the expertise of foreign experts, he said.
Hồng said: “Thus far our garment and textile sector has just been doing outsourcing. We were competing through low labour costs, but this is no longer an advantage. We must create new momentum to compete.”
Having reliable raw material sources at home and investment in technology would help create value for the sector, he said.
“Whether we have the TPP or not, the sector will develop as it has for many years.”
The EU, the second largest export market for Vietnamese garments and textiles, offers great opportunities for Vietnamese firms to boost exports, he said.
Enterprises in the sector have mapped out measures hoping to enjoy better growth next year and in the years to come, he said.
Richard Hong, CEO of TUV SUV ASEAN, said the Vietnamese food and garment industries have depended long enough on cheap labour and low costs, and “we need to invest in innovation, quality and food safety.”
Sathish Kumar Somuraj, general director of TUV SUD Vietnam, said: “Việt Nam has increased its business opportunities through FTAs with certain main global markets, especially the EU, US, Japan, Korea, and ASEAN. These agreements will not only bring global market access to Vietnamese businesses, it also means Vietnamese manufacturers are expected to comply with more stringent quality and safety regulations.”
TUV SUD and AGTEK have joined hands to help local manufacturers access global markets by offering training and other activities to provide them with an updated and more in-depth understanding of the stringent international quality and safety standards.
The panel discussion, titled “How Will Free Trade Agreements Affect Commodity Business Landscape in Việt Nam?”, was among events held to celebrate TUD SUD’s 150th anniversary.
The company is one of the world’s leading service providers in testing, inspection, audit and certification.
In future it would partner with local companies, especially in the garment textile and food-related industries, to help them gain confidence in their product quality so that they can maximise the potential benefits offered by FTAs, Somuraj said.
Hồng said Việt Nam’s garment and textile exports are expected to increase by only 5.5 per cent this year to US$28.5 billion.
Source: VNS
Key words: VN, sets, priorities, APEC 2017
