It is also reported that, by the end of 2015, 70% of the domestic enterprises showed understanding of the pact, lower than 86 percent of FDI companies from the TPP member states and 82 percent of those from the TPP outsiders.
However, local firms expressed the strongest approval for the trade deal with 73% of the respondents backing the accord, compared to 67% of the FDI companies from the TPP members and 65 percent of those from outside the pact.
The support of the TPP among the business community is high and tends to increase, which manifests that businesses are ready for the TPP. Up to 70% of the domestic enterprises showed understanding of the pact, lower than 86% of FDI companies from the TPP member states and 82% of those from the TPP outsiders.
The TPP was concluded on October 5, 2015 after seven years of negotiation between 12 countries – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam. It was signed on February 4 this year and is in the process of being ratified by each member state. The ratification procedures will take about two years.
Vietnam should complete labour standards and relations in order to fulfill its commitments to employment and trade union in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement to which the country is a signatory. Dr. Bui Sy Loi, deputy head of the National Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee, underlined the need for Vietnam to satisfy labour standards and relations stated in the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of the International Labour Organisation to which Vietnam is also a member.
At the same time, Vietnam should assess the agreement’s impacts on sectors and businesses while seeking specific measures to maximise opportunities afforded by the pact, he said. Loi noted that joining the deal will help Vietnam speed up the perfection of the market economy mechanism, the restructuring of the economy and work force as well as the transformation of growth model.
His views were shared by Mai Duc Chinh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), who suggested adjusting and supplementing a number of contents of the Labour Code in order to meet TPP requirements.
It is necessary to ensure occupational health for female workers and lift the regulation banning women from certain jobs, he stressed. He said apart from integration and development opportunities, the agreement will pose great challenges to trade union organisations, especially in fulfilling employment commitments.
