According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, trade between Vietnam and the UK rises 0.5% to 3.95 billion USD in the first seven months of this year, including Vietnam’s exports of 2.5 billion USD.(Photo: Ministry of Industry and Trade) Participants listened to reports on outcomes of meetings of professional committees that were held earlier.
Both Thang and Huddleston hailed efforts of the committeesin coordinating together and updating each other on each side’s legalregulations, contributing to effectively implementing the UKVFTA.
The two sides discussed a number of issues such as the increase of Vietnameserice exporters’ opportunities to access the UK market, and methods to calculatethe free trade agreement utilisation rate.
Concluding the meeting, Thang and Huddleston agreed on the continuing to activelyand closely cooperate at all levels to further enhance the exploitation ofcommitments of the deal, contributing to promoting the bilateral trade andinvestment.
The two sides agreed to hold the third meeting of the UKVFTATrade Committee in London in 2024.
Earlier on August 23, Thang hosted a reception for Huddleston, during which she congratulated the UK on becoming the 12th member of the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), affirming thatthis is not only a good news for the UK, the sixth largest economy in theworld, but also for Vietnam and other members of the pact.
For his part, Huddleston thanked the Vietnamese side for supporting the UK’sCPTPP bid and expressed his hope that the National Assembly of Vietnam will completethe ratification process of the document on the UK’s joining the pact at an earlydate.
During the working session, the two sides sought measures to bolster bilateraleconomic-trade relations, including the effective implementation of the UKVFTA.They noted that their technical committees and Trade Committee have fully heldmeetings, a factor in helping to enhance the overall efficiency of the CPTPP implementation.
Thang suggested the regular organisation of dialoguesessions between the two countries to update each other on the regulations ontrade defence and discuss technical matters related to trade defenceinvestigations process and situation.
She thanked the UK for providing technical support to help Vietnam complete theVietnam National Trade Repository (VNTR) in order to fulfill its transparencyobligations set out in the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement.
She said she hopes that Vietnam will continue to receivesupport from the UK Government to help businesses fully grasp the benefits ofFTAs, thereby improving the efficiency of implementing FTAs within ASEAN while promoting new trade and investment opportunities in the region.
The two sides updated each other on common activities taking place within theWorld Trade Organisation (WTO), vowing to jointly promote ties on green, fair, andsustainable trade liberalisation moving forward.
According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, trade between Vietnamand the UK rose 0.5% to 3.95 billion USD in the first seven months of thisyear, including Vietnam’s exports of 2.5 billion USD.
So far, the UK has run 536 direct investment projects inVietnam with total registered capital of 4.28 billion USD, ranking 15th among 143foreign investors in the country.
In the first seven months of 2023, the UK invested in 28 new projects with total registered capital of 44.9 million USD in Vietnam./.
VNA
