UKVFTA: a lever for trade cooperation among the UK and VN's five central cities

A garment factory in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Đạt

HÀ NỘI — After more than two years of implementation, the UK-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) has had positive effects on trade cooperation among the UK and Việt Nam's five central cities.

These five cities are HCM City, Hà Nội, Hải Phòng, Đà Nẵng and Cần Thơ.

Last year, the trade turnover among the UK and the above-mentioned cities reached over US$2.63 million. Of which, exports hit $1.59 million, up 3.5 per cent year-on-year while imports saw a yearly decrease of 1.3 per cent to $1.04 million.

The five cities' major export items to the UK included textiles and garments, footwear, bags, metalwork, minerals, and handicrafts.

Meanwhile, these cities mainly imported metallurgy, animal feed and raw materials, electronic and computer components, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals from the UK.

Reports from the five cities showed that the FTAs, including the UKFTA, have contributed to promoting the socio-economic development of these cities.

In the future, the world situation will continue to evolve rapidly and unpredictablely. Sustainable development has become an overarching trend in the world. At the same time, digital economy, circular economy, and green growth are development models chosen by many countries.

To exploit opportunities from the UKVFTA, the five cities said they will promote the dissemination of export market information and support exporting businesses.

They will facilitate administrative reform in the fields of investment, construction, land, taxes, customs, and import-export in accordance with commitments to international economic integration.

At the same time, they will also consider forming large raw material areas to meet production needs, limit  imports of raw materials, and meet conditions of origin tracebility to take advantage of incentives.

Speeding up trade promotion activities, supporting businesses to advertise their products, find partners, and seek export opportunities will be included.

The five central cities will coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to closely monitor the export situation so that they can promptly support businesses to grasp new information about the market, import and export needs, and cooperation opportunities.

The UKVFTA was signed on December 29, 2020, and temporarily came into effect on December 31, 2020, before officially starting on May 1, 2021.

Negotiated based on the principles of inheriting commitments in the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, the deal facilitates commercial flows between the two countries through its almost across-the-board tariff cuts.