The National Assembly on Monday casted votes to pass the trade deal which forms one of the biggest free trade areas in the world with a combined market of 499 million population and the GDP of over US$10 trillion, accounting for 13.5% of the global GDP.

The Government estimated that the trade deal, scheduled to take effect early next year, would help increase Viet Nam’s GDP by 1.3% and export value by 4% by 2035.

Noticeably, this is the 3^rd trade agreement that the National Assembly has spent time to scrutinize as it is a large-scaled agreement with high commitments and requires amendments to several key laws.

The approval of the agreement therefore reflects Viet Nam’s determination to accelerate the on-going institutional reform agenda in the context of extensive international integration in which economic integration is the core.

Institutional reform, especially administrative procedures reform, is currently one of the top priorities of the Government with an aim to building up an increasingly transparent and open environment for local and foreign investors. The CPTPP is a real test of the country’s determination to pursue that process.

Ngo Chung Khanh, Deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department of Multilateral Trade, said the CPTPP is becoming an ‘internal-combustion engine’ for improving the quality of administrative procedures, ensuring equal access to all resources by businesses from all economic sectors, and eradicating market barriers in service and investment domains.

Khanh compared the significance of the agreement approval with Viet Nam’s official admission to the World Trade Organization as both created great turning points for the economy.

The trade deal approval also demonstrates Viet Nam’s consistent policy to support an open multilateral trading system./.