TPP: A global business deal that would benefit Vietnam Vietnam should do well under the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), though it’s too early to tell because the deal has not yet officially been made public. Until then, newspapers and politicians would be wise to dial down the rhetoric.                                    We do know that immediately after the 12 Pacific Rim countries announced the TPP deal, some members of the US Congress and the US presidential candidates began fretting about its pitfalls. Most notably, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump the two leading US candidates to become the next president of the US have come out strongly against the trade accord as well as a majority of the remaining candidates running for the office. With 30 chapters of trade rules affecting jobs, drugs, labour and industries in every one of the 12 countries participating in the trade talks, the TPP is a bonanza for those bent on derailing the agreement. The problem is of course that not one of the people either advocating or spreading fear about it have read the agreement and it may take up to four to six weeks before the entire agreement is officially made public. In the meantime, politicians and newspapers who have yet to see the complete deal should refrain from spinning it either one way or the other because in all honesty the overwhelming majority of them have no clue about the specific details of the agreement. The potential economic benefits of the TPP to Vietnam simply are too great to dismiss the deal out of hand or reduce it to Twitter-friendly, partisan sound bites. Once the TPP agreement is published, citizens of Vietnam and the US will have at least 60 days and most likely 120 days to review and comment on it.   Getting it through the US Congress could take four to six months, according to most authoritative sources, and let’s face the harsh reality that the TPP is in serious trouble of not being ratified by the US. But it’s really kind of difficult to be for or against something you haven’t read, say most reasonable people familiar with the TPP and it is extremely hard to support much of the pure speculation that is being published in much of the Vietnamese press. The devil is always in the details and what the ramifications to Vietnam and the remaining countries that constitute 40% of the world’s economy are at this point, no one can say. The majority of sensible people around the globe at least agree in principle that free trade unimpeded by high tariffs and other non-tariff barriers is a good thing and results in more jobs, production and investment in new technology globally. No doubt if the agreement is ratified by the 12 member states and comes into full effect there will be winners and losers but it will take many years for the full effect of the agreement to unveil itself. What we do know is that Vietnam today has a young talented workforce that has not realized its fullest potential. Regardless of the TPP, if the current workforce would improve its creativeness, increase its productivity, sharpen its competitiveness— more jobs would flow to Vietnam and incomes would be higher. Vietnam needn’t be concerned with the challenges of global competition, unemployment or business failures as the fruits of success come to those who stand up and tackle the challenges head on. Vietnam finds itself – for now at least – in a demographic golden age where 25% of the population is aged between 10 and 24 with the median for the entire population around the age of 29. Their foreign language skills, group working skills and lack of cultural knowledge of other nations are their biggest hindrances as success at any endeavour is almost totally dependent on the ability to effectively communicate with one’s peers. On the upside, Vietnam’s participation in the TPP would mean employees would gain fundamental principles and rights at work and as a result, businesses would increase the quality of the work environment. Meanwhile, Vietnamese workers would have more opportunities to ensure their legal rights are protected as it relates to income, working environment and the right to form trade unions. Nguyen Duc Thuan, CEO of Thai Binh Investment Joint Stock Company said it best when he uttered the words that “the TPP membership provides a superb opportunity for Vietnam’s economy”. Given the challenge more business will flow to Vietnam and it will  result in the creation of more jobs for workers with better salaries and pay— however, Vietnamese workers must step up to the challenges in a professional manner, he stressed. General Director Tran Tho Huy of Thien Nam Elevator Joint Stock Company in turn underscored his views stating that should the TPP come to fruition, the Vietnam workforces stand ready to meet the challenge. However, the ultimate challenge that lies before the country is not the TPP, it’s the challenge to sharpen the work forces competitiveness, improve people’s standards of living, reduce poverty, improve transparency and protect the environment. VOV