Vietnamese lychees put on sale in France (Photo: VNA) According to statistics of the General Department ofCustoms, Vietnam exported 16.1 billion USD worth of goods to the EU duringJanuary-May, while importing commodities worth 6.7 billion USD from the bloc,up 20.1 percent and 16.8 percent compared to the same period last year,respectively.
The EU is currently Vietnam’s fifth largest trade partnerand second biggest importer of Vietnamese goods, following the US. Last year, two-way trade reached49.8 billion USD, down 0.1 percent year-on-year, and accounting for 9.13percent of Vietnam's total foreign trade.
With the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, Vietnam’s exportto the bloc has bounced back since the end of 2020, said Tran Thanh Hai, deputyhead of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Import-Export Department.
Thanks to the preferential tariffs under the deal, footwearexports to the bloc’s 27 member countries increased by 19.2 percentyear-on-year in the first quarter of 2021.
Countries that saw surges included Spain (39.2 percent), Belgium(37 percent), Czech Republic (36.5 percent) and Sweden (30.8 percent).
The agreement is also creating favourable conditions for theexport of Vietnamese farm produce.
In recent days, batches of fresh lychees have been shippedto the Czech Republic, Germany, France and Belgium.
Tran Van Cong, Vietnam's agricultural counsellor in Europe, saidthat the first batch of lychee to Belgium marked an important milestone as aspecial “passport” proving the production capacity of the Vietnamese agriculturalsector.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exportersand Producers (VASEP), European importers have shown more interest inVietnamese seafood suppliers given tariff advantages from the EVFTA and thestable source of raw materials. Vietnam’s seafood exports to the EU reachedover 380 million USD in the first 5 months of this year, up 15 percent y-o-y, with half of which, nearly 199 million USD, coming from shrimp, up22 percent y-o-y./.
VNA
