Vietnam’s services market is significantly open to foreign investments under the commitments to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
The Truong Hai Star 3 container anchors at Chu Lai – Truong Hai Port in central Quang Nam province (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s services market issignificantly open to foreign investments under the commitments to theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA),according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). Experts said at a conference held in Hanoi on November 30 thatafter joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the services market remainedrelatively “close”. However, the openness has expanded and a majority of legal documentsregulating the services market were found compatible with the commitments toTPP and EVFTA. According to Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, director of VCCI’s WTOCentre, some 85 services’ categories were already compatible with TPP andEVFTA’s commitments, meaning that the level of openness was found to beequivalent or higher than the commitments. Incompatibilities were found in 14 categories, while 22 othersdid not have conditions for doing business and 32 categories did not havespecific regulations for foreign investors. Trang said for categories which were found incompatible with TPPand EVFTA’s commitments, the legal framework of Vietnam should be amended toensure compatibility. For those already compatible, Trang said transparencyshould be enhanced. “It is important to open the market to foreign investment inline with international commitments. However, the opening of the market must begiven thoughtful consideration and should be transparent,” Trang said. Assessing the compatibility of Vietnam’s legal framework isessential to determine appropriate measures to reasonably protect localservices providers amid rapid global integration. Pham Manh Dung from Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers, said assessingthe openness of the services market would be helpful to both enterprises andmanagement agencies in evaluating foreign direct investment as a base toimprove the legal framework.-VNA
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The Truong Hai Star 3 container anchors at Chu Lai – Truong Hai Port in central Quang Nam province (Photo: VNA) 
