The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) would bring challenges, as well as improved export opportunities for Viet Nam when the AEC is formed in 2015, according to experts.
The AEC marks the commitment of ASEAN leaders to building and promoting a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region tempered with equitable development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy.
ASEAN includes the Association of South East Asian Nations consisting of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Experts said the AEC would also create greater opportunities for exporting goods and services to the ASEAN market, though local enterprises have faced many difficulties in production and business.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade (MIT) Do Thang Hai said the trade turnover between Viet Nam and ASEAN has quadrupled over the past decade, climbing to nearly US$40 billion in 2013 from $9 billion in 2003. Last year, Viet Nam took in $18.47 billion from its exports to the bloc, the country's third largest importer only after the US and the EU, which was an increase of 4.4 per cent from the previous year, added Hai.
Meanwhile, export turnover was estimated at $4.7 billion in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 6.4 per cent. However, the figure has tended to remain steady, and even slowed on occasion, as domestic enterprises have not yet taken full advantage of the close geographical distance and incentives offered by the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA).
Hai said ASEAN is one of Viet Nam's leading trade partners, accounting for 15 per cent of the country's total trade. The regional grouping made up 22.4 per cent of total foreign direct investment (FDI) capital in 2013 with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand being key investors.
AEC and free trade agreements (FTAs) have helped promote Viet Nam's exports to ASEAN, Hai stressed.
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