Vietnam attends G7 Trade Ministers' Meeting for the first time: Mark of international integration, supply chain diversification

The expanded G7 Trade Ministers' Meeting took place in Italy on July 16 and 17.

The conference was chaired by Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tanjani. The G7 group includes Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The main objective of the conference is to address tensions and conflicts that threaten global trade and sustainable and inclusive growth. In addition to the ministers of the G7 member countries, the conference was also attended by trade ministers and government officials from India, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea and Vietnam as well as representatives from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This is the first time the G7 Trade Ministers' Conference has invited the Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade to attend, showing that Italy and the G7 countries really appreciate Vietnam's role in promoting the development of world trade. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Antonio Tanjani commented that Vietnam is a "bright example", a successful model in economic growth based on the achievements of the international economic integration process, thereby promoting trade and attracting investment, successfully participating in the globalization process and reshaping regional and international supply chains. At the Conference, the WTO Director General also emphasized that Vietnam and a number of other developing members are a testament to the success of the international integration process and a typical example in implementing supply chain diversification. Speaking at the Conference, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said that for a developing country like Vietnam, trade liberalization is considered an important solution, the main driving force for development. Over the past 40 years, from a country that had just emerged from war and was underdeveloped, Vietnam has become one of the 40 largest economies in the world; Top 20 in international trade, top 15 in attracting foreign investment and top 45 in Innovation Index.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien spoke at the Conference.

Over the years, Vietnam has always maintained a fairly high and stable GDP growth rate; the 2021-2023 period reached an average of 5.5%/year; the first 6 months of 2024 reached 6.42% and the whole year is forecasted to reach 6.5% - 7.0%. The above achievements are due to Vietnam's consistent implementation of an independent, self-reliant, diversified, and multilateral foreign policy; proactively and actively integrating deeply, comprehensively, substantially, and effectively into the international community; taking internal strength as fundamental, strategic, long-term, and decisive, and external strength as an important breakthrough; promoting the implementation of 3 strategic solutions: on institutions, infrastructure, and human resources; at the same time, promoting development based on science, technology, and innovation. Minister Nguyen Hong Dien emphasized that Vietnam highly appreciates the Statement of the G7 Trade Ministers' Meeting in February this year on strengthening the multilateral trading system based on rules, inclusiveness, freedom and fairness with the WTO at its center. Vietnam supports the WTO in promoting discussions on key areas such as fisheries and agricultural subsidies. In the face of the increasing trend of applying trade protection measures, subsidies or erecting technical barriers to promote domestic production to replace imports, Vietnam calls on the G7 and its partners to immediately limit the establishment of trade barriers, especially non-tariff measures that disrupt supply chains for essential goods. Let us work together to build a self-reliant, flexible and sustainable supply chain, because it is considered the "bloodline" of every economy, playing an important role in ensuring the smooth flow of trade in goods and services. Minister Nguyen Hong Dien affirmed that Vietnam wishes to cooperate with G7 members in the following aspects: diversifying supply chains; promoting investment in synchronous, modern transport infrastructure, adapting to climate change and developing logistics services; promoting technological innovation, digital transformation of supply chains;... With the desire that G7 and its partners will further strengthen connectivity activities, technical support and practical capacity building for training, scientific research and technology transfer to help developing countries improve their resilience and participate more deeply in the global production and supply chain, Vietnam is committed to creating the most favorable conditions for G7 enterprises to invest and do business in Vietnam long-term, stably and effectively, because the success of enterprises is also the success of Vietnam. * On the sidelines of the G7 Trade Ministers' Meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien had a bilateral meeting and exchange with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy Antonio Tajani.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien met and had bilateral talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy Antonio Tajani.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Antonio Tanjani affirmed that Italy always attaches importance to and wishes to further strengthen the cooperative relationship between the two countries, especially in the fields of economy, trade, industry and energy. In particular, Italy considers Vietnam an important partner in the ASEAN region and highly appreciates the important role of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation as a bridge between businesses of the two countries. Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said that Italy is currently one of Vietnam's most important partners in the EU in many fields, and is Vietnam's third largest trading partner in the EU. In the opposite direction, Vietnam is Italy's largest trading partner in ASEAN. With the average growth rate of bilateral trade turnover between the two countries of about 10% per year in recent times and the number of Italian investment projects in Vietnam continuously growing, it proves that the potential for cooperation between the two sides is still very large. To continue promoting bilateral economic and trade relations, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien proposed to organize the 9th meeting of the Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy in the fourth quarter of 2024 in Hanoi. Along with that, the two sides need to promote areas where Italy has strengths and Vietnam has needs such as: supporting Vietnamese enterprises to improve their competitiveness, especially in the textile and footwear supporting industries to participate in the global supply chain; within the framework of implementing EVFTA, requesting Italy to increase information exchange, update EU regulations in general and Italy in particular on imported goods from Vietnam; encourage Italian investors to invest in the agricultural and food processing industry or fashion design, and supporting industries of Vietnam. * Also in Italy, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien had a meeting with WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. The WTO Director-General highly appreciated Vietnam's impressive economic and trade growth in recent years and noted that Vietnam is a "bright example" of economic growth based on the achievements of the international economic integration process, thereby promoting trade and investment, successfully participating in the globalization process and reshaping regional and international supply chains.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien works with WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said that Vietnam has signed and implemented 16 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs); is preparing to conclude negotiations on 3 FTAs ​​with important partners in Europe, America and the Middle East to establish open, stable and long-term supply chains. Most recently, Vietnam signed Pillar II in the IPEF Framework related to Supply Chain Resilience with 13 partners. With the above mechanisms, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien hopes that the WTO as well as economies around the world will promote more substantive and effective partnerships; persevere in multilateral cooperation, considering it the key to resolving all complex challenges that arise. Together with the G7, Vietnam reaffirms its commitment to supporting all efforts and initiatives to reform the WTO in all 3 aspects: Monitoring, Negotiation and Dispute Settlement. Vietnam also hopes that the G7 countries will contribute more actively and effectively in resolving the deadlock of the Appellate Body (AB).

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