Speakers at the seminar on how to boost exports to the UK under the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement in HCM City on January 28. (Photo: VNA) Pham BinhAn, Director of the HCM City International Integration Support Centre, saidthat under the UKVFTA, Vietnam would greatly benefit when exporting to the UKdue to commitments to market opening and quotas for some of the country’s mostcompetitive exports like agricultural and aquatic products.
Amid theCOVID-19 outbreak, the UK’s demand for agricultural products, food,electronic products, personal protective equipment, and laboratory equipmenthas been increasing, and the trade deal will offer Vietnam the opportunityto export such products.
The UKmarket, however, is highly demanding about standards and quality requirementson imported products, forcing Vietnam to improve product quality and ensureconsistency of products to conquer the choosy market.
The tradedeal will also cause competitive pressure on the domestic economy,especially in sectors and industries in which the UK has strength such asfinancial services, pharmaceuticals and chemical industries.
Vu Viet Thanh,Director of the Europe and North America Market Department under the Ministryof Industry and Trade (MoIT), said that Vietnam exports phones and components,garments, footwear, fishery, wood and wooden products, computers and parts,cashews, coffee and pepper to the UK. It imports machinery, equipment,pharmaceuticals, steel and chemicals from the UK.
Trinh ThiThu Hien, head of the Product Origin of the MoIT’s Agency of Foreign Trade,urged Vietnamese exporters to enhance competitiveness of products,improve production and business capacity, and apply science-technology toincrease value of their products.
They mustalso enhance supervision over the use of antibiotics in processing, and ensurefood safety to meet requirements of the importers.
In addition,Vietnam must adhere to the Rules of Origin (RO) when exporting to theUK, especially because traceability regulations in the countryhave become increasingly strict.
Recently,the first 60 tonnes of jasmine rice were shipped to the UK under theUKVFTA.
Nguyen SonTra, head of the WTO and trade negotiation division at the Ministry of Industryand Trade’s multilateral trade policy department, said the trade pact tookeffect on December 31, 2020.
It wasnegotiated based on commitments made under the EU-Vietnam Free TradeAgreement (EVFTA) with necessary adjustments to ensure it conforms with the Vietnam-UKbilateral trade framework.
Under theUKVFTA, the UK has eliminated 65 percent of tariffs and will increase it to 99 percentwithin seven years. Vietnam has removed 48.5 percent of tariffs, and this willrise to 92 or 98 percent after six years.
As the tradedeal inherits the EVFTA, it is set to create a comprehensive,long-term and stable economic and trade co-operation framework between the twocountries, according to Tra.
The UK isthe third largest trade partner of Vietnam in Europe.
According tothe Vietnamese General Department of Customs, bilateral trade reached 6.6billion USD in 2019, in which Vietnam’s exports to the UK accounted for nearly88 percent.
The twocountries saw an average annual growth of 12.1 percent in import-export revenueduring the 2011-2019 period, higher than Vietnam’s average level of 10 percent./.
VNA
