The suggestion was made by Pham Van Chinh, Head of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

He said preferential tariffs offered by FTAs will help Vietnamese exporters penetrate overseas markets while enjoying production expansion, trade promotion and incentive monetary policies.

Chinh added that Vietnam has already signed FTAs with some other ASEAN nations, Chile and Japan which account for 25 percent of the world’s total import turnover (estimated at US$13 billion).

He emphasized the key role of the ASEAN market in boosting Vietnam’s export revenue, saying those countries contribute about 45 percent to the country’s total export turnover.

Last year Vietnam earned approximately US$53.5 billion from exports to these markets, Chinh said.

As the country has completed negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and FTA with the European Union (EU), Vietnam expects to achieve 86 percent of its export earnings from the FTA markets.

In recent years, he noted, Vietnam’s exports to FTA markets, especially to ASEAN members, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea (RoK), have grown considerably.

However, Chinh said, local businesses should seize every opportunity offered by FTAs in the process of achieving deeper international economic integration. They should make full advantage of certificates of origin (C/O) to enjoy preferential tariffs stipulated by FTAs.