FTAP helps businesses seek export opportunities

Export opportunities

The MoIT officially launched this information portal at the website https://fta.gov.vn in 2020. FTAP provides the Vietnamese business community and people with information about technical standards and regulations on import-export management of FTA partner countries, helping minimize the amount of time and cost required for businesses to learn about FTA commitments.

FTAP was designed to be a user-friendly search engine for the business community and people who are interested in commitments of all FTAs involving Vietnam, including commitments on taxes, rules of origin, services and investment, as well as information about the markets, import-export regulations, and sustainable development.

FTAP enables businesses to grasp opportunities from FTAs

FTAP provides updated information about the implementation of FTAs, gathered from management officials attending the meetings of relevant FTA councils and committees. It also provides articles and the latest news on policy updates and events related to FTAs. FTAP users can access information from its home page or the menu bar of the portal.

Notably, the Business Support column provides useful information for businesses interested in transactions with partners outside Vietnam. Businesses can seek from this column detailed information about training, data, statistics and the markets of FTA partner countries.

Besides, businesses can look up the national tariff of Vietnam and partner countries, search for information about preferential tax rates, import-export statistics, and requirements for goods imported by Vietnam and partner countries. Businesses can also access a software tool to see whether a product meets rules of origin or not.

FTAP also provides information about the service and investment portfolios of Vietnam and partner countries, as well as requirements and specific conditions for these services and investment projects to be implemented.

Upgrading FTAP

On July 6, 2021, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien issued Decision 1718/QD-BCT approving the project to receive, operate, upgrade and develop the Vietnam Free Trade Agreement Portal in the 2021-2025 period, with a vision to 2035.

The MoIT’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department has been assigned to coordinate with other units of the ministry and the industry and trade sector to implement the project. Initial efforts were focused on resolving technical problems to receive the FTAP from the World Bank; connecting the FTAP with the electronic information portals of ministries, sectors, localities and business associations. At the same time, problems related to the system of the FTAP were also resolved to enhance its security, while the portal continued to be updated on policies, data and training courses related to FTAs involving Vietnam.

In the 2021-2025 period, FTAP is focused on providing information about all FTAs involving Vietnam. Information about new-generation FTAs and multilateral FTAs with Vietnam being a member (including ASEAN’s FTAs with partners) will be provided first, and then bilateral FTAs.

FTAP will also be upgraded to enable connections and data sharing with the information systems of other ministries and sectors through the Local Government Service Platform (LGSP) and application programming interfaces (APIs). The portal will also provide access to data related to the World Trade Organization (WTO), enabling businesses and people to compare multilateral and bilateral trade agreements involving Vietnam.

After 2025, FTAP will continue to be upgraded to have new functions in order to improve user experiences. At the same time, it will continue to be updated with information about policies, data, training courses related to Vietnam’s FTAs.