PM: Vietnam committed to global integration with or without TPP
U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration has suspended its efforts to win congressional approval for the Asia Pacific free-trade deal because of Donald Trump’s stunning election win and Republican majorities in Congress.
Phuc said the Government of Vietnam is already prepared to send TPP to the National Assembly for ratification, but now there is no solid ground to do that.
At a Q&A session of the NA on November 17, lawmakers requested the Prime Minister to make clear Vietnam’s stance on the TPP given Trump’s anti-TPP rhetoric during the presidential campaign.
Phuc stressed that excluding the TPP, Vietnam had joined 12 free trade agreements (FTAs) and would make the most of these deals.
“We are ready to join the TPP but with or without this trade deal, Vietnam will remain on the international integration path. We have 12 FTAs, so even without the TPP, we can still go ahead with those already signed, including with ASEAN,” said he noted.
Vietnam has built 10 mechanisms for bolstering its ties with the U.S. in education, healthcare, the Mekong River and mine clearance, among others, he said, and the nation will stick with those mechanisms.
Regarding the ASEAN community, he said, the country would promote comprehensive cooperation with this third largest market after the EU and the U.S. in the near future.
Many deputies also asked tough questions about five loss-making megaprojects. Prime Minister Phuc stressed: “Taxpayer money will never be used to cover such losses.”
These projects must have to find ways to deal with their own problems; otherwise, they should change hands, be leased out or seek dissolution. “Never should their losses and delays become a burden for the economy,” he said.
As for the fight against corruption, he emphasized no corruption cases would go unpunished.
Deputy Pham Phu Quoc said none of the nation’s 63 cities and provinces had become a true economic and financial powerhouse. Prime Minister Phuc shared Quoc’s view, saying Vietnam needs an economic and financial center of regional stature, and Hanoi and HCMC should be the first to become such centers.
Explaining the merger of the nation’s two stock exchanges into a single bourse, Phuc said this was aimed at developing a centralized stock market in HCMC and a bond market headquartered in Hanoi with central authorities involved.
