TPP will help advance Viet Nam-Mexico trade
TPP will help advance Viet Nam-Mexico trade
Trade between Viet Nam and Mexico is expected to thrive when the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) takes effect, attendees heard yesterday at a Ha Noi conference highlighting bilateral co-operation in business, investment and services.
Viet Nam, Mexico and 10 other countries signed the TPP in early 2016, seeking to create a free trade area in the Pacific region.
To meet their mutual commitments, Viet Nam will eliminate more than 65 per cent of its import taxes immediately. It will also eliminate 98 per cent of Vietnamese taxes on Mexican goods within 10 years. Meanwhile, Mexico will eliminate 72.2 per cent of its taxes on Vietnamese exports. These measures are expected to boost trade between the two countries after 2018.
The Mexican Ambassador to Viet Nam, Sara Valdes Bolano, said the TPP and other free trade agreements in the region will create favourable conditions for businesses of participating countries to join the global value chain. This will strengthen business and investment cooperation, enhancing the quality and value of products and improving competitiveness.
According to the Viet Nam General Department of Customs, two-way trade between Viet Nam and Mexico in the first seven months of 2016 was US$1.29 billion, with Viet Nam's exports worth $1.33 billion.
Arturo Perez Behr, Chairman of the National Association of Importers and Exporters of Mexico (ANITERM), said that immediately after the TPP was signed on February 4 this year, the association launched an additional 45 offices worldwide, including in Viet Nam.
The opening of the office in Viet Nam also represents an advance in trade ties between the two countries, since Vietnamese businesses will now have more opportunities to enter the promising Mexican market, Behr said.
