On December 4-5, 2023, in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa province, the Department of Multilateral Trade Policy (Ministry of Industry and Trade) coordinated with the Department of Industry and Trade of Khanh Hoa province to organize a Seminar to introduce commitments of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the opportunities it brings.
The workshop was organized to propagate and introduce Vietnam's commitments in the RCEP Agreement, raise awareness for local state management agencies and support the business community to exploit and take advantage of the RCEP Agreement and maximize benefits from the Agreement.
The seminar was co-chaired by Ms. Nguyen Viet Chi, Deputy Director of the Department of Multilateral Trade Policy, Ministry of Industry and Trade and Mr. Huynh Tan Hai, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, Khanh Hoa province. Presenting at the Conference were Ms. Quyen Thi Thuy Ha, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office Branch in Osaka, Japan and representatives of a number of relevant Departments of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In addition, the Conference attracted a lot of attention from the business community, representatives from the Departments of Industry and Trade in the Southern region in general and Khanh Hoa province in particular, as well as industry associations attending at sight.

Ms. Nguyen Viet Chi, Deputy Director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade chaired the workshop with the topic "Introducing the commitments of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and opportunities brought by the Agreement"

Seminar with the participation of the business community, representatives from the Departments of Industry and Trade in the Southern region and industry associations

Speaking at the opening of the Workshop, Ms. Nguyen Viet Chi, Deputy Director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department, affirmed that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a comprehensive and important trade agreement between countries. ASEAN and 5 partners including China, Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, the agreement has contributed to promoting economic and trade relations between ASEAN countries and the above 5 foreign partners in recent times and achieved many remarkable achievements. When the RCEP Agreement comes into effect, it helps create the largest free trade area globally; connect and harmonize ASEAN's commitments with 5 foreign partner countries; create favorable conditions for businesses in the ASEAN region to cooperate in the production chain of products exported to RCEP markets outside of ASEAN; and contribute to strengthening regional supply chains, recovery and economic growth after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In that spirit, with the desire to support businesses to continue to effectively take advantage of opportunities from commitments in the RCEP region, speakers from the Department of Multilateral Trade Policy, Import and Export Agency, and Department of E-Commerce (Ministry of Industry and Trade) had an introduction about the commitments of the RCEP Agreement; rules of origin of goods in the RCEP Agreement; E-commerce commitments in the RCEP Agreement; Potential opportunities and lessons learned about exporting to the RCEP market (specifically for the Japanese market). In addition, the Multilateral Trade Policy Department also provides information on digital platforms that can help businesses take advantage of RCEP Agreement incentives.

Mr. Quyen Anh Ngoc, Deputy Head of the ASEAN Division, Multilateral Trade Policy Department, introduced the commitments in the RCEP Agreement and what businesses need to pay attention

In particular, Ms. Quyen Thi Thuy Ha, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office Branch in Osaka, Japan, shared about potential opportunities and lessons learned about exporting to the RCEP market (specifically for the Japanese market)

Ms. Cao Thu Hoai, official of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department, provides information about the digital platform (VNTR) used to support businesses to take advantage of incentives under the RCEP Agreement

At the discussion section, businesses attending the conference had the opportunity to express their opinions and ask questions to the speakers. The main questions relate to Vietnam's level of commitment in the RCEP Agreement; conditions for self-certification of origin of goods (SC); notice when choosing and using the form of certificate of origin (C/O), etc. In a lively and positive discussion atmosphere, questions from businesses were fully answered by the speakers.
With a rich program, the Conference had substantive and positive exchanges, effectively supporting businesses to take advantage of economic cooperation opportunities with the RCEP market area and partners, diversifying and sustainable development of business activities, especially export markets./.