Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)HCM City (VNA) – Trade between Vietnam and the EurasianEconomic Union (EAEU) hit 1.7 billion USD in the first 6 months of 2017, up 21percent year-on-year, according to statistics of the General Department ofVietnam Customs.
The figure was reported at a seminar on the EAEU market andopportunities to boost export via the Vietnam – EAEU free trade agreement heldby the Ministry of Industry and Trade on August 25.
At the function, Hoang Quoc Vuong, Deputy Minister ofIndustry and Trade said the pact, which took effect in October 2016, hasenabled Vietnam to access a market of 183 million people and nearly 2.2trillion USD in GDP.
Currently, about 900 Vietnamese exporters are active in theEAEU market, with key exports including seafood, coffee, rubber, tea, rice,apparel, woodwork products and confectionary.
Kharinov Vyachslav Nikolaevich, Chief Representative of theRussian Trade Office in Vietnam, said from the beginning of 2017, a strongincrease has been seen in Vietnam’s import of Russian food, coal, steel, paperproducts and chemicals, while healthy growth has been recorded for Vietnameseshipments of mobile phone components, apparel and farm produce to Russia.
However, many were not satisfied with the growth.
Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, Vice Director of the Ho Chi Minh CityDepartment of Industry and Trade, said Vietnam – EAEU trade felt short ofpotentials, staying at just over 3 billion USD on an annual average.
Trade between Vietnam and EAEU members have recorded unequalgrowth, he said, citing as an example that HCM City’s firms have mostly workedwith Russian partners and are yet to tap business potentials with those fromBelarus and Armenia.
In fact, Vietnam – Russia trade makes up 90 percent of totaltrade revenue between the country and the EAEU, while trade between Vietnam andBelarus and Armenia in 2016 even recorded decreases from 2015.
Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industryand Trade’s European Market Department, attributed the issue to long-time tradepartnership between Vietnam and Russia and inadequate understanding ofVietnamese firms about other EAEU markets.
She urged Vietnamese enterprises to study these markets andboost their product quality to maximize trade before the EAEU signs free tradeagreement with more nations.-VNA
VNA
