Viet Nam targets to realize all WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement Articles by end of 2024
VGP - Viet Nam has realized 21 among the 24 Articles of the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), reported the General Department of Customs at a meeting on December 7.
The country planned to implement all Articles of the TFA by the end of 2024, said the customs agency, adding that Viet Nam has actively taken actions to realize the TFA since it took effect on February 22, 2017.
The TFA creates a driving force to boost global trade and brings common benefits to WTO member states, especially developing ones.
Entry to the agreement will help step up the reform, simplification, and improvement of transparency in customs procedures; assist small- and medium-sized enterprises in exports; and attract more foreign direct investment in manufacturing and export.
The TFA was adopted by WTO member states at the ninth WTO Ministerial Conference on December 7, 2013 and has become part of the organization's compulsory agreements since November 2014.
It is the first multilateral agreement signed in the 21year history of the WTO, marking an important milestone in global trade systems and encouraging trade liberalization.
Addressing the event, USAID/Viet Nam Acting Mission Director Bradley Bessire said that reforms carried out by Viet Nam have created a more attractive business environment and enhance the national competitiveness capacity in the region and the globe.
According to the General Statistics Office, in the first 11 months of 2022, Viet Nam's total import and export turnover of goods was estimated at US$673.82 billion, up by 11.8 percent over the same period last year.
Of the figure, the total exports were estimated at US$342.21 billion, up by 13.4 percent while the imports hit US$331.61 billion, up by 10.1 percent.
The country recorded a trade surplus of US$10.6 billion in the first 11 months of this year.
