Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – A seminar entitled “European Union market: export opportunities forbusinesses in the new context” took place in Hanoi on December 5.
Speaking at theevent, Deputy Director of the Department of Europe – America Markets under theMinistry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Tran Ngoc Quan said the EU is a large,potential market with 28 member nations and a population of over 500 million.
Over the pastyears, bilateral trade has been growing strongly and Vietnam has seen a tradesurplus with the bloc.
Two-way traderose from 4.1 billion USD in 2000 to 45 billion USD in 2016, making the EU oneof the leading trade partners of Vietnam. During the period, Vietnam’s exportsto the EU soared from 2.8 billion USD to 34 billion USD and Vietnam’s importsfrom the bloc increased from 1.3 billion USD to 11 billion USD.
However, the EUis one of the markets with strict technical regulations aimed at protectingpeople’s health, the environment and sustainable development.
Quan requestedfirms to prepare enough documents to ensure that wood exploitation and processingmust abide by the EU’s regulations.
As a number ofexporters have yet to meet strict requirements on origin of products, they werealso asked to build plans on supply chain adjustments, thereby tappingpreferential tariffs once the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement takes effect.
The seminar washosted by the Export Promotion Centre under the MoIT’s Vietnam Trade PromotionAgency.-VNA
VNA
