After joining the World Trade Organisation, Vietnam has negotiated and signed on 16 free trade agreements.

Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade show that 12 out of 16 agreements have taken effects.

The negotiation for EVFTA has just completed and three other agreements are still in the negotiation process.

Vietnam has registered high improvement and development after the agreements took effects such as the growth in Chile, India, South Korea and China.

Vietnam also exported more to countries that are also members of the free trade agreements and have complementary goods with Vietnam such as Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

Luu Manh Tuong, head of the Import and Export Tax Department, said they hadn't been able to calculate the impact on tax duties from the EVFTA yet.

Depending on the negotiation results and commitments, the government will issue policies and the General Department of Taxation, General Department of Customs will use those data to set export and import quota and calculate the impact on tax revenues.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the free trade agreements would attract more investment and boost the economy, however, it is also estimated that tax revenue will fall by VND36.34trn (USD1.55bn) in 2019 and VND43.96trn in 2020.

At the Vietnam Business Forum 2019 held in Hanoi on June 26, Mark Gillin, head of VBF's Tax and Customs Working Group, said tax and customs policies played an important role in firms' sustainable development and an important factor in building government credibility.

VBF's Tax and Customs Working Group suggested that the government should have transparent policies for online businesses.

Tien Phong/Dtinews

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