Vietnamese businesses continue to benefit greatly from ASEAN's quickly expanding consumer market, despite the fact that companies must increasingly adhere to stricter origin and technical requirements.
Nguyen Viet Chi, Deputy Director of the Department of Multilateral Trade Policy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), emphasized that after 30 years in ASEAN, the bloc is still one of Vietnam's top economic partners during a workshop held in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday, November 14, on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the use of free trade agreement (FTA) commitments for important export sectors.
After the United States, China, and the EU, ASEAN is currently Vietnam's fourth-largest export market.
According to customs data, Vietnam's exports to ASEAN totaled almost 36.9 billion USD in 2024, up 13.3% from 2023 and making up more than 9% of the nation's overall export revenue. Exports totaled 28.5 billion USD in the first nine months of 2025, a 2.8% increase from the previous year.
ASEAN is still a viable market for Vietnamese exporters because of its 700 million people, close proximity, inexpensive logistics, and comparable consumption patterns. They can meet stricter requirements and enter more demanding nations with higher standards if they can conquer this market.
According to Chi, the AEC aims to improve regional competitiveness, foster the free flow of skilled labor, investment, and goods and services, and establish a single market and production base.
Numerous free trade agreements (FTAs) that ASEAN has negotiated and put into effect enable businesses to join regional value chains and diversify their markets. Vietnam is negotiating another free trade agreement with ASEAN and is currently a party to eight of them.
Nguyen Truong Thi, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, stated that the city is still working closely with ministries and associations to assist businesses in enhancing their trade-remedy capabilities and adhering to origin regulations in order to prevent the dangers of anti-dumping, countervailing duties, and illicit transshipment in the face of fluctuations in international trade.
To take advantage of incentives, the city, which is home to over 400,000 businesses, needs timely updates on new laws, rules, and ongoing free trade agreements.
Quyen Anh Ngoc, head of the ASEAN Division under the MoIT's Department of Multilateral Trade Policy, reviewed the results of ASEAN's economic cooperation and pointed out that during the ten years that the AEC Blueprint was implemented, ASEAN's GDP increased from 2.5 trillion USD to 3.8 trillion USD. Intra-ASEAN trade continued to hold the largest share of the total trade, which grew from 2.3 trillion USD to 3.5 trillion USD.
With improving export quality and value and Vietnam continuing to draw in both domestic and foreign investment, ASEAN continues to be one of Vietnam's top trading partners. Tariff preferences under free trade agreements are still not always used, though, and their use in traditional FTAs appears to be waning.
Vietnam continues to place a higher priority on the US, the EU, and China, while ASEAN opportunities—bolstered by proximity, low logistics costs, and preferential tariffs—remain underutilized, according to Vu Xuan Hung of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's HCM City branch.
Exporters are under pressure as ASEAN's non-tariff measures continue to get stricter, particularly in areas like technical standards, labeling, traceability, and trade-remedy actions.
To boost value addition, Vietnam's electronics sector needs to move from assembly to component design and manufacturing.
While addressing the risks of origin fraud, it is crucial for the wood industry to make sure that timber sources are legal and satisfy different market preferences. Despite easier access to markets, agricultural products still face fierce competition.
Deeper processing, standardized packaging, Halal certification, brand building, improved traceability, and more robust distribution systems are all necessary for this.
Experts confirmed that ASEAN is still a strategic market with significant potential for Vietnamese companies, who need to improve their ability to integrate, maximize the benefits of free trade agreements, and get ready for new ones.
In order to assist businesses in adhering to origin regulations, resolving trade-remedy concerns, and taking full advantage of opportunities in the ASEAN market, they also emphasized the necessity for increased assistance from industry associations and authorities.
