Promote Awareness and Understanding of the CPTPP and other Modern Trade Agreements

The Project at A Glance

As part of its economic integration process, Vietnam has signed several Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with numerous partners around the world. The existing and prospective trade agreements indicate huge opportunities as export markets for Vietnam, including for the cooperative sector.

International Economics assisted the Viet Nam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) in developing tools to promote awareness and understanding of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and other modern trade agreements and how to take advantage of the market access preferences they provide. The project was part of the Expert Deployment Mechanism for Trade and Development (EDM) program, funded by GAC and implemented by Cowater International.

What We Found

An important part of Vietnam’s development strategy is to integrate the regional and global economies, including through membership in the WTO and ASEAN, bilateral trade agreements or by joining the CPTPP. The existing and prospective trade agreement indicate huge opportunities as export markets for Vietnam, including for the cooperative sector.

However, there was a need to address the challenges faced by the cooperative economic sector in Vietnam and in this context, our Team promoted awareness and understanding of the CPTPP and other modern trade agreements and the market access preferences these agreements provided. This campaign helped the cooperative sector in Vietnam to take advantage of the economic integration process and realise their full potential as an important engine to promote economic growth, social inclusiveness and equity, and furthering sustainable development.

Our Strategy and Impact

Cooperatives are important engine for sustainable development of the world economy, including in Vietnam. However, many of these achievements are at the domestic level, while the gains for cooperatives in the globalisation have been relatively humble. To enhance the position and value of the cooperative’s products, besides the domestic market, Vietnamese cooperatives needs to increasingly expand their reach to export markets. As part of the economic integration process, cooperatives may have many opportunities to obtain new production and management technologies, attract foreign investment, and expand exports.

Our Team developed a business guide to promote awareness and understanding of the CPTPP and other modern trade agreements and how to take advantage of the market access preferences they provide. This business guide was tailored to the needs of Vietnamese cooperatives. Furthermore, a training course was conducted to serve both as the pilot to test the content and teaching approach as well as a ‘train-the-trainer’ workshop to prepare VCA staff to deliver the course.

Our Core Solutions

With the rapid proliferation of trade agreements worldwide, there are new market and investment opportunities for countries to explore. At International Economics, based on our extensive experience in international trade, we assist our clients by providing a detailed analysis of the key impacts of new trade agreements on their operations and competitiveness through an assessment of tariff, and non-tariff barriers, provisions on rules of origin, customs efficiency, the effectiveness of transport networks, and sustainability provisions, among others.

We can help assess the opportunities in different markets, determine the feasibility and viability of projects, and benchmark the wider ecosystem to support business growth. We also support clients in navigating the policy landscape regarding international trade by establishing robust monitoring and evaluation framework through sophisticated real-time dashboards and reporting systems to ensure the best outcomes.