Vietnamese farmers expect higher profits with CPTPP trade agreement

At least $40 billion worth of export turnover from farm produce in 2018 is within reach, some experts believe. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, said that with CPTPP (which is essentially the old TPP without the US), Vietnamese farmers will receive benefits because technical barriers and requirements on imports are not as high compared with the former TPP that included US participation.

Vietnam’s farm produce export turnover was $36 billion last year. A $40 billion export turnover is quite within reach this year, though farmers have higher expectations Tuan believes that Vietnam’s wooden furniture, seafood, coffee, pepper, cashew nut and rice products will have better opportunities to enter Australia, Canada, Mexico and Japan.  However, animal husbandry will have to compete with imports from CTPP countries, especially beef, pork, chicken and dairy products, because of the tariff removal.

FTAs facilitate trade liberalization with tariff removals. However, tariff barriers are still used by member countries to protect some of their important business fields. Japan, for example, wants to protect its rice production, while Latin American countries want to ‘play for time’ in opening rice and fruit markets. “We are ready for a field in which there are many big players and we have to follow the rules of the game,” Tuan said.

Minister of Agriculture Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that Vietnam’s farm produce is exported to 180 countries and territories. With the CPTPP, Vietnam would have a large market with 500 million consumers and 14 percent of the global GDP. “Vietnam’s farm produce export turnover was $36 billion last year. A $40 billion export turnover is quite within reach this year, though farmers have higher expectations,” Cuong said.

Do Ha Nam, chair of Intimex, one of the largest Vietnamese farm produce exporters, is optimistic about Vietnam’s produce exports in the CPTPP period, saying that Vietnam has no match among CPTPP members in the field. Vietnam exports mostly raw farm produce. Processed products such as instant coffee and cashew nuts bear high tax rates of 20-40 percent. But in the future, when the tariff is cut to zero percent, Vietnamese enterprises will focus on making processed products rather than raw materials to earn more money.

Tran Van Linh, chair of Thuan Phuoc Seafood & Trade, however, was cautious when talking about the benefits of the CPTPP. He said Vietnamese enterprises will be able to benefit from the tax cuts, but “this will not be too much”. “Once the tariff is cut to zero percent, foreign importers will surely force the prices down,” he explained.

Source:http://english.vietnamnet.vn/

Ghana to stop exporting raw materials – Osafo Marfo

Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo, Senior Minister, has hinted at plans by government to halt the export of raw materials from Ghana to enrich other economies. “There will be no export of raw materials from this country. Government is determined that we are going to have value addition to our raw materials to create employment for our own people,” he said.

Mr. Marfo said this on Thursday at Batsona during the inauguration of the Tema West Municipal Assembly which was carved out of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).

Observing the effects that the exported raw materials has had on Ghana, he said, “We cannot have a situation in which our raw materials are used to create employment for people elsewhere whilst our people live in poverty.”

He said, “We want jobs for our people. The number one problem we have in Ghana today is unemployment, but we always export our raw materials unprocessed for them to process which brings a lot of revenue and create jobs for their people.”

“So government has resolved that it won’t allow the export of these materials without adding value to them here in Ghana”.

He said some countries had such a law, and that the government was currently looking at a draft legislation which would demand that all raw materials in Ghana should be processed before exported.

Source:https://www.ghanaweb.com

Ghana to stop exporting raw materials – Osafo Marfo

Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo, Senior Minister, has hinted at plans by government to halt the export of raw materials from Ghana to enrich other economies. “There will be no export of raw materials from this country. Government is determined that we are going to have value addition to our raw materials to create employment for our own people,” he said.

Mr. Marfo said this on Thursday at Batsona during the inauguration of the Tema West Municipal Assembly which was carved out of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).

Observing the effects that the exported raw materials has had on Ghana, he said, “We cannot have a situation in which our raw materials are used to create employment for people elsewhere whilst our people live in poverty.”

He said, “We want jobs for our people. The number one problem we have in Ghana today is unemployment, but we always export our raw materials unprocessed for them to process which brings a lot of revenue and create jobs for their people.”

“So government has resolved that it won’t allow the export of these materials without adding value to them here in Ghana”.

He said some countries had such a law, and that the government was currently looking at a draft legislation which would demand that all raw materials in Ghana should be processed before exported.

Source:https://www.ghanaweb.com

Cashew firms temporarily halt African imports

Speaking at a conference to review the cashew sector’s performance last year and discuss the year ahead in HCM City on Tuesday, Dang Hoang Giang, Vinacas deputy chairman, said cashew prices in Africa went up by 30 – 40 per cent to a record US$1,956 per tonne on average last year, while processed cashew prices rose by only 10-15 per cent in the global market. In the first two months of this year raw cashew prices have increased to $2,000 per tonne, even to $2,100 in Ivory Coast, he said.

If Vietnamese cashew processors buy the nut at these prices they would suffer losses, Nguyen Duc Thanh, the association chairman, said. He said last year due to a reduction in domestic cashew output, the industry imported over 1.3 million tonnes for processing for export, the highest ever. Viet Nam imported nuts from 32 countries and territories, mainly from the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, and Cambodia, he said.

Domestic cashew output this year is forecast to be higher than last year at 400,000 tonnes compared to 250,000 tonnes last year. Ta Quang Huyen, chairman of Hoang Son 1 Company, said with higher local output, importers might only need to buy 950,000 to one million tonnes of raw cashew this year.

Besides, supply from Cambodia would also increase significantly this year, helping reduce reliance on African sources, he said. Amid the volatile raw material situation, the association and its members have agreed to shift from quantity to quality by raising the value of cashew nuts with deep processing and developing the domestic market.

Cashew export revenues are expected to be around $3 billion this year, a year-on-year fall of $500 million, Thanh said. Firms would face losses if they buy raw cashew at such high prices to fulfil the target export of $4 billion this year, he added.

Currently the association is working with the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to develop cashew-growing areas and increase output to one million tonnes in the next 10 years. Vinacas would provide cashew seedlings and technical support, and buy the entire output, he said. At the conference, the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, called for Vietnamese businesses to invest in the cashew sector in his country.

In Viet Nam, domestic cashew output meets only 20 -35 per cent of demand. The country has been the world’s largest cashew producer and exporter for many years, accounting for 60 per cent of the global market share.

Source:http://english.vietnamnet.vn/