Opportunities from RCEP for Vietnam's exports to the Singapore market
Among all FTAs of which Vietnam and Singapore are both members, Singapore has committed to eliminate tariffs on all import tariff lines for all partner countries. Therefore, Vietnamese goods exported to this market do not gain any tariff-based competitive advantage from RCEP compared with other FTAs. Nevertheless, RCEP still creates a number of noteworthy opportunities for Vietnam's exports to Singapore, especially through non-tariff factors and indirect benefits within the regional cooperation framework.
First, RCEP helps strengthen regional supply chain linkages by establishing a uniform set of rules of origin for the entire bloc. This is a major advantage in the context of Singapore being Asia's leading logistics and transshipment hub. Accordingly, Vietnamese enterprises can export materials, components, or intermediate goods to Singapore for further processing and assembly before re-exporting them to other RCEP markets such as Japan, South Korea, or Australia, with origin requirements becoming easier to satisfy thanks to the cumulation mechanism.
Second, RCEP includes numerous commitments on simplifying customs procedures and facilitating trade, creating favorable conditions for the recognition of equivalence in sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, and encouraging the recognition of conformity assessment results in the area of TBT. These commitments help reduce unnecessary trade barriers in trade between Vietnam and Singapore, thereby making it easier for Vietnamese goods to access the Singaporean market.
In addition, RCEP also contains broad commitments in services and institutional matters that can help manufacturing and exporting enterprises reduce production costs and improve competitiveness. For example, commitments to open service markets that support production, such as finance, telecommunications, and logistics, will enhance competition in these sectors, thereby enabling manufacturers to access higher-quality services at more reasonable costs and thus reduce service costs in product prices. Likewise, commitments to promote a competitive environment, modern trade practices, and business support (competition, e-commerce, small and medium-sized enterprises, etc.) create favorable conditions for manufacturing enterprises, especially...
In addition, RCEP also facilitates investment inflows from Singapore into Vietnam thanks to strong market-opening commitments in the field of investment. Singaporean investors may increase investment in areas such as processing industries, high technology, and agricultural supply chains, thereby helping enhance Vietnam's export production capacity.
Source: Center for WTO and International Trade - VCCI
