Hai Phong
Provincial performance in implementing free trade agreements
Overview of the result
Hai Phong scored 35.62 out of 40, topping the FTA Index 2025 as the only locality in the “Very good” tier. The city ranks 1st of 34, above the national average by 13.96 points . Hai Phong leads on both information access and legal implementation, and ranks first nationally on 16 individual indicators. The result is comprehensive, reflecting the city's standing as the north's leading port, industrial and logistics hub, and demonstrating that its local FTA implementation system works. The next challenge is no longer building the support base but widening the reach and deepening the substance of firms' FTA utilisation.
Detailed analysis by component index
Hai Phong ranks first nationwide across four dimensions of FTA communication: enterprise awareness (A1), participation in FTA-related events (A5), event quality (A7), and the quality of information provided through the provincial online portal (A9). Quality of information relative to business needs (A4) and export forecasting and market-orientation information (A8) both rank 2nd. The one relatively weak indicator is the range of channels through which enterprises access FTA information (A3), at 24th.
Hai Phong’s FTA communication system achieves exceptionally broad reach. Conferences reach 96.4% of enterprises, training programs 91.4%, and both online information portals and social media approximately 80%. The province’s Zalo Official Account is also used by 69.1% of enterprises. The information provided is not only widely accessible but also highly responsive to enterprise needs: 87.7% report that information from central authorities meets most or all of their needs, rising to 95.7% for information from provincial authorities. Provincial government notifications reach 94.2% of enterprises, government information portals 83.5%, and business associations 74.8%. Event quality is similarly strong, with at least 97% of enterprises rating every assessed dimension as “good” or “very good.”
Hai Phong sets the national benchmark across five dimensions of legal implementation: the frequency and quality of guidance on FTA-related legal documents (B2–B3), the ease of regulatory compliance (B4), enterprise participation in implementation training (B5), and provincial authorities’ responsiveness to enterprise feedback (B7). Understanding of legal documents (B1) and business participation in feedback and consultation (B6) both rank 2nd. The result reflects a legal-support system of unusually high coverage, quality and responsiveness.
Nearly all enterprises understand preferential tariffs and rules of origin, with awareness reaching 97.8–99.3%. Understanding of TBT, intellectual property, trade remedies, and labor regulations is also strong, at 88–91%. Although SPS measures and environmental regulations remain relative knowledge gaps, awareness still reaches 71.9% and 74.8%, respectively—well above the national average. Guidance quality is similarly strong, with 90.6–97.1% of enterprises providing positive assessments across the five principal regulatory fields. Compliance challenges are concentrated in more technical and specialized areas: only 4–5% consider tariff or rules-of-origin requirements complex, compared with 26–34% for intellectual property, labor, SPS, and environmental regulations.
Hai Phong records the strongest national performance in FTA utilization (C1), support-policy effectiveness (C7), participation in trade-promotion programs (C9.1), and the quality of those programs (C9.2), and ranks 2nd on access to support policies (C6). The policy system therefore combines wide coverage with real effect on firms.
The remaining gaps lie in the range of FTA utilisation activities (C3, 7th), the FTA commitment groups utilised (C4, 11th) and barriers to utilisation (C5, 26th). Utilisation concentrates on rules of origin (93.5%), tariff preferences (92.1%) and trade facilitation (60.4%); every other commitment falls below 15%, and not a single firm named TBT among its most-used commitments. The main barriers are lack of capital (65.5%), inability to meet rules of origin (56.8%), technical standards set by FTA partners (51.1%) and limited technological capacity (41.7%). Even so, trade promotion, administrative-procedure support and training programmes all draw 97.7–98.5% positive ratings.
Hai Phong achieves the country’s strongest results in three areas: the effectiveness of support from provincial authorities (D4), enterprise recognition of the importance of meeting import-market sustainability requirements (D5), and the effectiveness of available support mechanisms (D6). Knowledge of sustainable development commitments (D1) and readiness to comply (D3) both rank 2nd. Perceived impact on business operations (D2, 9th) is the only indicator outside the very top group, and still ranks high.
Understanding of the labour and environmental commitments exceeds 92%, and even newer requirements such as EUDR, CBAM and forest management reach around 66–68%. Readiness on labour, environment, green standards, public participation, SCDDD and the circular economy runs at 87–93%, but falls to 54–70% for biodiversity, EUDR, CBAM, forest management and sustainable fisheries. Almost every firm sees commercial significance in sustainability compliance: some 97–98% link it to brand-building, finding partners and additional cost, and 78.7% see it as material to signing contracts.