The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) affirmed the commitment to enhancing bilateral comprehensive cooperation at the 22nd ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting in Brussels on January 21.

Officials of foreign affairs of the 10 ASEAN nations and 24 EU countries attended the meeting. Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung led the Vietnamese delegation to the event.

At the meeting, participants emphasised the two blocs’ special relations as “partners in integration”.

ASEAN valued the EU as a leading partner, especially in economy and development. The EU is currently the second biggest trade partner of ASEAN with bilateral trade reaching 261 billion USD in 2017, up 11.9 percent from the previous year. It is also the largest source of foreign investment of ASEAN when its direct investment here hit 25.4 billion USD in 2017, accounting for 18.6 percent of the total foreign direct investment in the region.

The EU also reiterated its support for ASEAN’s central role and that it considers ASEAN as an important partner sharing many interests and strategic visions.

Ministers recognised the progress in bilateral relations since the 21st ministerial meeting in 2016, particularly the success of the ASEAN-EU 40th Commemorative Summit in 2017 and the approval of the ASEAN-EU Plan of Action 2018-2022.

At the meeting, they agreed to bolster cooperation in the fields of shared concern and interest like economy-trade-investment, connectivity, climate change response, sustainable development, counter-terrorism, trans-national crime prevention, cyber security, and maritime security. The two sides also agreed to step up efforts towards an ASEAN-EU free trade agreement on the basis of the bilateral deals between the EU and ASEAN member countries.

They also reached a consensus in principle of upgrading ASEAN-EU relations to a strategic partnership, and adopted the joint statement of the meeting.

Regarding international and regional issues, the ministers exchanged views on complex and unpredictable developments of the global economic and political situation. They agreed to keep coordinating in the promotion of multilateralism and open, fair and rules-based multilateral trade systems, while working closely together to resolve global challenges, enhance dialogue, build trust and prevent conflicts.

As for the East Sea issue, participants continued to underline the importance of maintaining peace, stability, maritime security and safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight, and respecting the rule of law. They called on the sides relevant to make self-restraint, not threaten to use or use force, and settle disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The countries voiced support for ASEAN and China’s efforts in effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and working towards the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) in the waters.

Additionally, they welcomed the recent progress on the Korean Peninsula, affirming their support for and readiness to assist efforts towards sustainable peace and stability and complete denuclearisation on the peninsula. They also emphasised the continuation of the serious and full implementation of relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

On behalf of the ASEAN, Deputy Minister Dung delivered a speech on the cooperation priorities between the two sides in 2019. He proposed orientations and measures to intensify substantive cooperation in the areas matching the ASEAN’s demand and the EU’s strength such as climate change response, counter-terrorism, trans-national crime prevention, cyber security, border management, illegal fishing prevention and sustainable development.

He also reaffirmed the ASEAN’s principled stance on the East Sea issue and highlighted the strides in the building of the COC between ASEAN and China. The official added that the bloc supports the EU to contribute to its efforts to maintain regional peace, security and stability.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Dung had bilateral meetings with officials of Belgium, Romania, Greece, Hungary, the European Council and the European Commission to promote the signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the bilateral investment protection agreement, and discussed other issues of bilateral relations.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will remove 95 per cent of current tariff lines among the partners, but goods must satisfy the rules of origin (ROO).

Taking place on January 18, the workshop about the CPTPP themed “Benefits or challenges for Vietnamese enterprises” specified many important definitions regarding ROO.

So far, Vietnam has signed 12 FTAs and has implemented 10 so far, while one (the CPTPP) has just been ratified, and another (the ASEAN-Hong Kong-China FTA) has been signed but has yet to be implemented.

The 10 FTAs that are already in effect include the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), ASEAN-China, ASEAN-Korea, ASEAN-India, ASEAN-Australia, New Zealand, ASEAN-Japan, Vietnam-Japan, Vietnam-Chile, Vietnam-Korea, and Vietnam-EAEU.

Once the CPTPP takes effect, one of the benefits will be that 95 per cent of current tariffs among partners will be removed. However, the only way to access this benefit will be to satisfy the ROO designed for each FTA.

The WTO defines rules of origin as the criteria needed to determine the national source of a product. Their importance is derived from the fact that duties and restrictions in several cases depend upon the source of imports.

According to the WTO, ROOs are used to implement measures and instruments of commercial policy such as anti-dumping duties and safeguard measures, to determine whether imported products shall receive most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment or preferential treatment, for the purpose of trade statistics; for the application of labelling and marking requirements; and for government procurement.

To qualify the goods’ origin, imported items must either be wholly-obtained (WO) or produced entirely from one or more parties in an FTA member country; or must have undergone a “substantial transformation.”

The words “one or more parties” really make a difference between WO ASEAN and WO CPTPP, and it makes it easier for small- and medium-sized enterprises to export.

To better understand tax reductions, it would be interesting to compare non-WTO members, WTO members, and FTA members:

Bui Kim Thuy, representative of the US-ASEAN Business Council for Vietnam said in her presentation about ROO’s importance that ROO will contribute to the sustainable development of exports and improve access to the preferential rates. Also, ROO will help to direct FDI flows into countries that are party to the FTAs, and adjust regional supply chains, limiting the benefits to countries outside of the CPTPP.

Source: VIR

Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam Paul Jansen paid an official visit to Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan provinces from January 9 to 11, 2019, in order to get update on the progress of the Belgian-funded projects there.

Over the last four decades, the Belgian Development Cooperation has supported Vietnam in a number of areas, from infrastructure-focused projects to poverty reduction and social development programs in the 1990s.

With Vietnam’s “Doi Moi” and opening-up policy, Belgium set priority to support Vietnam in education, public health, water and sanitation. The current Indicative Cooperation Program of EUR58 million focuses on the areas of governance, water management and urban planning in the context of climate change and green growth.

Since 2005 Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan are the localities of Vietnam and in the South Central Region in particular, selected by the Belgian Development Cooperation to support in the field of irrigation, sanitation and protection of the environment. The current cooperation program implemented by the two provinces and focuses on water management in order to adapt to climate change and green growth.

Enabel (Belgian Development Agency) is responsible for implementing all the projects in the bilateral cooperation at governmental level.

In Binh Thuan, after meeting with the local authorities, Ambassador P. Jansen and the delegation will visit the solar energy project in Ham Thuan Bac district – a pilot project under the Green Growth Strategy Facility (GGSF); attend the inauguration of the work “Dyke against erosion/landslide of the Luy River banks in Bac Binh district.

The delegation plans to visit some related works and talk with beneficiaries of the project “Integrated Water Resource Management and Urban Development in relation with climate change in Binh Thuan province (2014-2019)”.

The Belgian delegation will also meet some households beneficiaries of the Vietnam-Belgium micro-credit project of the Vietnam Women Union in Tan Lap commune, Ham Thuan Nam district. The Vietnam-Belgium credit project has been carried out in three phases from 1997 to 2012. Through 15 years of implementation, the Belgian government has supported with nearly VND45 billion (nearly US$2 million) and as such has provided more than 52,000 poor women with access to credit and business development services. The project contributed to enhancing gender equality, improving the position of underprivileged rural women in families and society. After the project closure in 2012, but the Credit Support Fund was maintained and further developed by the Vietnam Women’s Union, operated professionally, more effectively. It even attracted private investors.

In Ninh Thuan, after meeting with local authorities, Ambassador P.Jansen and the delegation will make a site inspection of the Cau Ngoi work: flood drainage channel – a construction that is due to start very soon.

Ambassador P.Jansen is looking forward to the positive changes brought about by the Belgian-funded projects. He welcomes the close and effective cooperation of the authorities at all levels of Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan provinces in implementing the projects, the embassy said in a statement.

Source: HanoiTimes

Four foreign companies will be injecting US$321 million of new investments in VSIP Quang Ngai. The investment registration certifications were presented to the companies at the VSIP Quang Ngai Investors’ Gathering and Investment License Presentation event.

Bekaert, a global market and technology leader in steel wire transformation and coatings headquartered in Belgium will set up a US$125 million steel wire and steel cord manufacturing plant to serve its customers worldwide. Hoya Lens, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, will set up a US$138 million eyeglasses lens manufacturing facility. Happy Furniture from Singapore has committed to invest US$48 million in their new production facility while Gesin Viet Nam from Korea will set up a US$10 million mattress manufacturing and processing plant.

These new investments will bring the total amount of FDI in VSIP Quang Ngai to US$733 Million. Upon the completion and operations of all the tenants, the park will create good jobs for over 35,000 workers.

Besides providing solutions that support economic development, VSIP is committed to improve the quality of life of the Quang Ngai local community. Continuing the work from Sembcorp-VSIP Water Initiative that saw the provision of clean water to 14,000 people across 10 sites in Quang Ngai province, 80 scholarships valued at VND100 million were presented to students from Tinh Phong, Tinh Tho, Tinh An Tay and Truong Quang Trong communes prior to and during the event. Together with other CSR initiatives to provide houses for the needy, canteen for the orphanage, financial support for heart surgery and community library, VSIP has contributed a total of VND7.6 billion to the Quang Ngai community.

The Vietnamese government has been directing investments to the central coastal region in an effort to balance economic development across the country, where development has largely been concentrated in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Located in Quang Ngai province, VSIP Quang Ngai broke ground in 2013 in a ceremony witnessed by the Prime Ministers of Vietnam and Singapore.

With VSIP strong track record and commitments of the local authorities, infrastructure including major roads, Waste Water Treatment Plant, Fire Fighting Station were put in place quickly and foreign investments across major industries were secured. In 2018, VSIP Quang Ngai attracted totally US$351 million in FDI, accounting for 93% of the province’s FDI.

“We are heartened to see how far VSIP Quang Ngai has come in the short five years. We are very thankful for the vote of confidence from investors and the strong support from the government. As the park develops, we will continue to work closely with the leaders and people of Quang Ngai to bring sustainable economic and social development to the province,” said Anthony Tan, General Director of VSIP Quang Ngai.