Illustrative photo (Source: im-export.com.vn) TranThanh Hai, deputy director of the ministry’s Import-Export Department, said theUK was a large Vietnamese trading partner in Europe, but exports to the countryonly account for 3 percent of the country’s export revenue.
"Thesterling’s depreciation is temporary and once the UK and European Unioncomplete Brexit negotiations, investors will feel secure," Hai said.
However,the ministry’s officials also warned that firms with large orders from the UKthat depend on that market heavily would be hit hard. This suggests thatexporters not focus too much on an individual market, and should diversifytheir consumption markets to minimise unexpected damages.
DangHoang Hai, Director of the ministry’s European Market Department, saidVietnamese shipments currently go through customs at the Netherlands, Germanyand Belgium, from where they are able to access the UK market.
Afterthe UK leaves the EU, Vietnamese exporters could face more barriers inaccessing the UK market this way. They would have to go through some procedurestwice, like customs clearance, food safety and hygiene inspection, as well asother technical barriers, which would be costly and time-consuming for them.
Itwould be much more difficult for the Vietnamese exports to reach Britishcustomers directly once technical barriers with the EU are in place, Dang HoangHai said. Therefore, the ministry urged exporters to study other ways to shipgoods.
Accordingto the ministry’s statistics, the UK imports 700 billion pounds worth of goods,but Vietnamese exports account for just five billion pounds, or 0.5 percent ofthe import value.
Although Vietnam’s export value to the market isnot high, most of the exports are its major commodities such as seafood, farmproduce, textile and garment, furniture and wood products. The UK, in fact, isone of the few single markets seeing a positive growth rate of shrimp importsfrom Vietnam; regional markets like the EU and ASEAN have seen a decrease.-VNA
VNA
