Local farm produce businesses have been advised to come up with concrete strategies to take full advantage of opportunities presented by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), according to insiders. 

A production line at domestic dried fruit and vegetable producer Vinamit

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, emphasised that the RCEP is anticipated to facilitate greater penetration for local agricultural products, such as durians and passion fruit, into the Chinese market due to the northern neighbour currently only importing nine types of farm produce from the country.

Le Thi Nguyen Thuy, deputy director of MINA Import and Export Joint Stock Company, pointed out that the RCEP will serve to create greater opportunities for the company as it strives to expand its market share in places such as China, along with other ASEAN members.

Thuy duly noted that with the firm’s agricultural products penetrating into various demanding markets, it will make it easier for them to meet the necessary requirements relating to product quality when exporting to other countries through the trade deal.

Furthermore, the trade deal will help organic products from Vinamit to gain entry to fastidious markets such as Japan and the Republic of Korea in line with the tariff reduction roadmap, according to Vu Quoc Anh Thu, marketing director of Vinamit Joint Stock Company.

Whilst also enjoying a number of advantages, the RCEP is anticipated to increase the influx of foreign goods into the nation whilst creating fierce competition in terms of the price in the domestic market. This will therefore encourage local enterprises to devise suitable price strategies in an effort to compete with foreign rivals, noted Thu.

Despite numerous challenges, such as congestion of goods at border gates due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic early this year, the agricultural sector raked in approximately US$3.3 billion, said the general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, adding that with the benefits brought about by the RCEP, the association is poised to gross an export turnover of US$4 billion next year.