More than 100 delegates from associations, industries, and businesses in Vietnam and some ASEAN countries discussed new opportunities from the ASEAN market. Photo: congthuong.vn

The conference "ASEAN Market: From initiative to action" aims to provide Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises with key trends in ASEAN domestic trade and take advantage of opportunities in this internal market.

At the conference, delegates from associations, industries, and business communities in Vietnam and some ASEAN countries discussed outstanding new opportunities in cross-border trade, especially in the Southeast Asian region (ASEAN).

They also emphasized new opportunities from the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as well as related Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) such as ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), and ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA).

Delegates said that in recent times, Vietnam achieved significant progress in regional and international economic integration.

In particular, in the period 2010-2021, trade between Vietnam and ASEAN has grown dramatically, in which exports increased from US$9.3 billion in 2010 to US$29.1 billion in 2021.

However, because these exports mainly come from foreign companies operating in Vietnam, more measures need to be taken to encourage and improve market access for domestic enterprises.

The small and medium enterprise (SME) community accounts for 97% of the total number of businesses in the country, aiming to achieve breakthroughs in the coming period.

Speaking at the conference, Nguyen Duc Trung, deputy director general of the Enterprise Development Agency of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said economic integration and ASEAN cooperation particularly brought many economic development opportunities.

As of February 2023, the total export turnover of goods from Vietnam to ASEAN reached about US$2.85 billion.

Exports to Thailand reached US$654.2 million; to Malaysia reached US$441.7 million, to Cambodia and Indonesia reached more than US$430 million. Exports to the Philippines reached US$408 million, to Singapore reached US$387.1 million, to Laos reached US$45.3 million and to Brunei with US$4.32 million.

"However, the results achieved above do not fully reflect the potential for developing trade among ASEAN countries.

At the same time, Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises face many challenges in taking advantage of these opportunities.

Therefore, supporting businesses to take advantage of digital platforms as well as market search skills through networks within the ASEAN region is the goal of the Enterprise Development Agency and the German Agency for International Cooperation-GIZ at this conference," Nguyen Duc Trung said.

Sita Zimpel, GIZ project director at the conference. Photo: congthuong.vn

At the seminar, Sita Zimpel, GIZ project director, responsible for developing ASEAN Access and the AED Business Portal said "GIZ is honored to participate in this important event, because we believe that the ASEAN market still has a lot of untapped potential, especially under the ATISA.

GIZ's work in Vietnam and ASEAN aims to create conditions for businesses to access reliable market information, form necessary networks as well as share experiences with the business community, especially small and medium enterprises in ASEAN.

Accordingly, ASEAN Access as well as the AED Business Portal are the main platforms to help us do that."

At the conference, the Business Portal (https://business.gov.vn) was also introduced by the representative of the Enterprise Development Agency as an electronic information site.

It provides information and business support services through integrating information about businesses, consulting networks, programs, and policy support for small and medium enterprises.

Individuals and organizations accessing the portal can utilize information and services to serve production and business activities as well as connect and participate in the global supply chain, expand the market on a modern, convenient and safe technology platform.

ASEAN Access (https://aseanaccess.com) is the main business portal to the ASEAN region with more than 3,100 small and medium enterprises as registered members, along with nearly 50 network partners and service providers.

The main features on the ASEAN Access help Vietnamese users and businesses conveniently exchange about the market, participate in online training and business networking events to better support businesses expanding their operations into regional and international markets.

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