With or without US-led trade pact, Vietnam forges ahead

Hanoi

FOR Vietnam's government, talk of a collapse in a trade pact stretching across the Pacific Ocean from the US to Malaysia is failing to dent confidence.

Whether the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) - a 12-nation preferential trade agreement that covers about 40 per cent of the global economy - is approved by the US Congress or not, authorities in Vietnam are forging ahead with plans to cut taxes and reduce red tape for businesses to make them more globally competitive.