UKVFTA boosts exports to the UK

Processing Tra fish for export, Dong Thap Province

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s data, the Vietnamese-British trade value reached US$6.8 billion in 2022, up 3.3 percent from 2021. Vietnam's exports totaled US$6.1 billion (up 5.2 percent), including seafood (up 29.5 percent), vegetables and fruits (up 34.2 percent), footwear (up 49.7 percent), textiles and garments (up 43.4 percent), and wood and wood products (up 85.2 percent).

The bilateral trade hit US$3.95 billion in the first seven months of 2023 (0.5 percent more than the same period last year), including Vietnamese exports worth US$3.49 billion, the well-growing ones of which were paper and paper products (up 98.1 percent), rubber products (up 76.8 percent), phones and accessories of all kinds (up 29.4 percent), vegetables and fruits (up 28.3 percent), machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts (up 12.2 percent), toys, sports equipment and parts (up 5.7 percent), footwear of all kinds (up five percent), and cashews (up three percent).

The country’s southern hub - Ho Chi Minh City, the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, and northern provinces of Ninh Binh and Thai Nguyen have exported phones and components, machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts, textiles and garments, footwear, computers, and electronic products and components to the UK.

Vietnam has attracted 536 UK projects with a total registered capital of almost US$4.3 billion. The country has licensed an additional 28 UK projects since early this year. The UK currently ranks 15th among the 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

The fact that the Vietnamese-British trade keeps growing in the context of decline related to almost all major European markets is an encouraging achievement, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. At the recent Second Trade Committee Meeting of the UKVFTA to boost trade between the two countries, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang and British Minister of State for International Trade Nigel Huddleston appreciated the efforts by the committees in coordinating to solve problems and updating each other on each side’s legal regulations, contributing to effectively implementing the UKVFTA.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the well-growing bilateral diplomatic relations will offer opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to increase the export of such products as paper and paper products, rubber, vegetables, fruits, food, and leather and footwear to the UK. Vietnamese fragrant rice, tuna and honey products are forecast to reached larger market shares in the UK, as they have benefited from more tax-free quotas since the UK joined the CPTPP. Vietnam is also likely to be chosen by large British businesses as one of their important links when restructuring their production and global supply chains.

Vietnamese businesses need to research British standards and laws related to product development, and learn about key trends in industry, services, commerce and consumption in the UK. The Vietnam Trade Office in the UK will strengthen connectivity between the two countries' businesses, and regularly update Vietnamese enterprises on goods standards and import regulations of the UK.