“Vietnam Electronic News” reported on December 31 that negotiations on the “Vietnam-UK Free Trade Agreement” (UKVFTA) have just concluded and are expected to take effect in 2021.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that Vietnamese goods currently account for a very small proportion of the UK’s annual import and export volume, only 1%. Enterprises in the leather and shoe industry believe that the agreement will provide more opportunities for Vietnamese goods to enter the British market and promote trade with this market. Therefore, the Vietnam-UK Free Trade Agreement will bring more advantages to Vietnamese goods exported to the UK, especially when the UK leaves the EU and the preferential conditions of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement are lost.
Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association, believes that with the “Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement” (RCEP) and the “Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement” signed this year, Together with other agreements, the Vietnam-UK Free Trade Agreement will lay a solid and complementary trade foundation for the textile and apparel industry.
Vietnam’s textile and apparel industry has diversified its raw material supply sources by importing raw materials from Japan and South Korea, so that it can still enjoy preferential tax rates when exporting to the United Kingdom and the European Union. This is an advantage that many countries in the ASEAN region do not have. The European Union, the United Kingdom, China, the United States, etc. will be major exporters of Vietnamese goods. The association will formulate specific plans to work with enterprises to promote trade and export activities. </p
