AEC to bring both opportunities and challenges to Hanoi

The AEC would bring more chances for export enterprises in Hanoi with many advantages in tariffs and markets, including lower or zero tariffs, to expand the export market and reduce import value, said Hoa Huu Lan, economic expert from the Research Institute for Socio-Economic Development of Hanoi.
Lan was speaking at a workshop organised to discuss the AEC and its impacts on the city’s socio-economic development. He noted that apart from the possible advantages, enterprises in the Vietnamese capital would also face challenges from the AEC. These would include increased competition, especially from imported goods, competition in attracting investment in tourism against regional rivals, and an increase in trade defence measures such as rules of origin and localisation rates.
Meanwhile, the competitive advantage in the export prices of Hanoi’s enterprises is not high because of rising input prices, |the cost of imported raw materials, and transport expenses, apart |from electricity and fuel costs, he said.
Therefore, the authorities in Hanoi should improve the competitive ability of the city’s enterprises by completing the business environment, creating a support system for the enterprises in import and exports, and capital, apart from technology, equipment and workforce, Lan said.
The city should also modernise and synchronise trade and technical infrastructures, he said, while enterprises should improve and promote cooperation among themselves for future development.
Speaking at the same event, Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, vice chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said Hanoi should assert its role as a pioneer in promoting economic growth nationwide and contributing to the country’s sustainable-development target.

Policies and solutions
He said the municipal authorities would direct the relevant sectors to design appropriate policies and solutions as well, in order to make the best preparation for Vietnam’s joining the AEC.
Nguyen Thanh Cong, deputy director of the Research Institute for Socio-Economic Development in Hanoi, stressed the need to create a connection between the capital city and other localities, especially those in the Red River Delta, thus promoting their integration in the time ahead.
Sharing Cong’s view, Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, deputy chairwoman of the Hanoi Youth Entrepreneur Association and chairwoman of the Vinh Phuc Export-Import and Production JSC, said Vietnamese enterprises would have a chance to assess themselves as they become a part of the global market, thus outlining suitable strategies for their development in the context of globalisation.
Huong said that in recent years, the municipal authorities had introduced many policies supporting enterprises in trade activities, and she hoped the city would continue to support technology.
In addition, economic experts from the National Economic University said at the workshop that Vietnam joining the AEC would bring opportunities for the property market, especially in Hanoi.
The Hanoi real-estate market would attract more investment in housing and the commercial and industrial property segments because of the large number of people from the Asean region coming to the city for business and to work. The experts said the city’s authorities should have specific strategies to take advantage of being the capital city and also an economic centre of Vietnam for developing its property market.
Meanwhile, property enterprises should prepare all conditions, including finance, workforce and technology, to grab the opportunity and develop their businesses.