Vice President proposes National Assembly to ratify UK's CPTPP accession document

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan said that on February 1, 2021, the UK officially submitted an application to join the CPTPP Agreement. The accession negotiations between the UK and CPTPP countries have been underway.

Essentially, the CPTPP accession negotiations were one-way, with the UK making many commitments to open new markets and accepting all existing commitments in the CPTPP.

On June 16, 2023, authorized by the Government, the Minister of Industry and Trade and Ministers of CPTPP countries and the UK signed the UK's accession document to the CPTPP, making the country the 12th signatory member of the agreement.

Assessing the impact of the UK joining the CPTPP, the Vice President said that Vietnam and the UK already have a bilateral FTA relationship, and the UK joining the CPTPP will contribute to strengthening Vietnam's role towards the UK in this region; contributing to enhancing Vietnam's position in international economic cooperation and bilateral cooperation with the UK.

In particular, the UK's recognition of Vietnam's market economy status is also of great significance, creating more foundation for us to continue to lobby other countries, including the US, to recognize Vietnam as a market economy.

From a multilateral perspective, the Vice President emphasized that the UK's accession to the CPTPP will contribute to connecting the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas with Europe, helping to elevate the CPTPP from a regional agreement to a global agreement.

In terms of economic impact, the UK joining the CPTPP will help promote and attract more economies to join this regional FTA, expanding market access opportunities for Vietnamese goods and contributing to increasing Vietnam's attractiveness in the eyes of foreign investors.

The UK has always been one of the largest import markets in the world. The negotiation results we have achieved will strongly promote trade and investment activities between Vietnam and the UK, especially creating conditions for Vietnamese exports to access the market with a large annual import turnover.

Regarding the impact on labor, employment, and society, the industries in which the UK has export strengths such as machinery, high-tech equipment, financial services, and banking are not competitive but complementary to Vietnam's strong industries. Therefore, there will be no significant competition for jobs, and on the other hand, it will help develop the labor market and increase employment in the corresponding fields in Vietnam.

However, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan also raised challenges for Vietnam. That is, the UK is one of the most demanding markets in the world in terms of domestic circulation standards. Therefore, Vietnamese goods exported to the UK market still face challenges in meeting domestic circulation standards.

Vietnam will also commit to opening its market to goods and services for the UK. This will create certain competitive pressure for our businesses and goods and services. However, this is healthy, selective and appropriate competitive pressure. More importantly, because the economic structures of the UK and Vietnam are highly complementary, it is expected that the competitive pressure will not be large.

The Vice President said that the Government proposed to ratify the Document at the 7th session so that Vietnam would be among the first 6 CPTPP countries to ratify the Protocol (so far, 3 CPTPP members have announced that they have completed domestic procedures, including Singapore, Japan and Chile).

"Based on the Government's proposal with the above contents, pursuant to the 2016 Law on International Treaties, the President respectfully requests the National Assembly to consider and decide to ratify the UK's accession document to the CPTPP Agreement at the 7th session of the 15th National Assembly," said Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan.

Presenting the review report afterward, Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee Vu Hai Ha said that the Foreign Affairs Committee agreed on the necessity of ratifying the document.

The National Assembly's ratification of the UK's CPTPP accession document at its 7th session will make Vietnam one of the first six CPTPP countries to ratify the Protocol. If by October 16, 2024, all six CPTPP members have announced the completion of the ratification procedure, the document will take effect after 60 days for the ratified countries (ie December 16, 2024).

Mr. Vu Hai Ha affirmed that the National Assembly's approval of the document demonstrates Vietnam's positivity and responsibility in promoting bilateral trade and investment relations with the UK in particular and between CPTPP and the UK in general, contributing to enhancing Vietnam's role and position in international economic cooperation.