CPTPP-EU Linkages Gain Momentum as Forum Participants Seek Greater Cooperation

A recent forum in Ho Chi Minh City brought together policymakers, trade experts, and business leaders to discuss economic resilience and the linkages between the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU.

The CPTPP and the EU account for roughly one-third of global GDP and more than one-third of world trade. Participants argued that bringing these two high-standard trading frameworks closer together could strengthen supply chains, improve regulatory compatibility, and reinforce an open, rules-based global economy.

Canada's Ambassador to Vietnam, H.E. Jim Nickel, stated that businesses are navigating an increasingly uncertain international environment, and open markets, transparent rules, and reliable partners are no longer simply economic preferences but strategic necessities.

Vietnam sees resilience through a similar lens, with Deputy Director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vietnam's Senior CPTPP Official, Mr. Ngo Chung Khanh, cautioning against equating economic security with greater protectionism.

He warned that pursuing economic security primarily through new trade barriers, fragmented regulations, and inward-looking policies could ultimately produce the opposite effect - higher costs, weaker investment, slower innovation, and greater uncertainty for businesses.