The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has unveiled that it is tearing down tariff barriers on imports from other ASEAN member countries as part of the formation of the world's seventh largest free-trade market, radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reported. In 2007, the 10 ASEAN member countries adopted the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) blueprint, which set December 31, 2015, as the target date for the creation of a single market. The AEC envisions a fully integrated economy with goods and services trade moving freely between the 10 ASEAN members and substantially all tariffs and quotas eliminated by the end of 2015. “Vietnam actually began reducing tariffs in 2014,” Luong Hoang Thai, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) was quoted as saying, and to date has lifted tariffs on roughly 1,706 tax lines. Almost 97 percent of all tariffs will be gone by December 31 and the MoIT has until the end of 2018 to completely phase out tariffs on the remaining tax lines including steel, automobiles, and auto components, Thai underscored. Thai said the AEC also calls for simplified regulatory trade frameworks to be put in place, complex customs procedures streamlined and other non-tariff barriers such as convoluted licensing and land acquisition requirements resolved by all member countries. The AEC will be the seventh largest economic market in the world and many leading economists believe it could be the fourth largest market by 2050 if recent growth trends continue. With over 600 million people, the AEC potential market is larger than the European Union (EU) and next to the People's Republic of China and India – it has the world's third largest labour force. “Removing tariff barriers is good for the nation’s businesses, particularly very small and family owned businesses,” said Luong Hoang Thai. Thai stressed deep cuts in tariffs mean more ASEAN goods and services will flow into the economy and revitalize it by spurring domestic spending, pushing competition up and providing the nation’s consumers more choice. “This is going to represent a great challenge for the nation’s domestic businesses,” VOV cited Ha Duy Tung, Deputy Head of the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Finance, as saying. Other businesses owners have expressed concern that as more foreign businesses come to Vietnam they will be confronted with stiff competition in terms of quality, price and timely delivery of goods and services. Ho Sy Truc, President of Hoang Mai Ltd Company, said domestic businesses will need to step up their game to compete in regional markets by improving labour productivity and ensure the quality of products to gain consumers’ trust.-VNA