Vietnam believed to gain the most in TPP

Hanoi, October 9 (VNA) - Vietnam stands to gain the most among 12 countries concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal’s negotiation early this week, said the Los Angeles Times on October 8. The US-based daily newspaper quoted the Peterson Institute of International Economics as saying that Vietnam’s textile-garment and footwear sectors are very likely to boom once the TPP is effective. The pact will let the country ship many products tariff-free to a market where members together constitute two-fifths of the global trade. The nation is also improving its tax and investment policies, developing infrastructure and pursuing other trade pacts to entice more investments, the newspaper noted. Investment bank Goldman Sachs forecast that Vietnam’s economy will jump from the 55th largest in the world to the 17th by 2025 with the gross domestic products (GDP) of 450 billion USD, up from 186 billion USD currently. The economy grew 6 percent last year and is expected to maintain the same growth rate this year. Since Vietnam opened its door to foreign investment, the country has experienced the growth rate of 5-10 percent annually. Sandeep Mahajan, the World Bank’s Lead Economist for Vietnam, believed Vietnam is among “the more competitive destinations” for overseas investors in the region. The Southeast Asian nation looks to sign a free trade agreement with the European Union by 2018 that has tariffs on many goods to its major markets drop considerably.