Harvesting dragonfruit (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) will openup more opportunities to boost the export of Vietnam’s key agriculturalproducts with the commitments to market opening the same as the EU-Vietnam FTA,Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh has said.
Since becoming effective from August 2020, the EVFTA has createda big push for Vietnam’s agricultural exports such as seafood, rice, vegetablesand fruits, and wood products to the UK.
As the UKVFTA inherits existing commitments in the EVFTA,plus additional quotas for competitive products, Vietnamese businesses will seemore export opportunities.
Nguyen Dinh Tung, Chairman and CEO of Vina T&T Group – aleading fruit exporter, said the UK is a big market for vegetables and fruitsin Europe with diverse import demands.
According to him, Vietnam’s vegetables and fruits could beexported to the UK in particular and the EU in general, if they win orders andmeet the countries’ requirements on food safety and plant quarantine.
The UK also has huge demand for wood and wood products,which creates numerous opportunities for Vietnamese exporters as their merchandisehave competitive prices, good materials and high quality.
General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Processors (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe said that the UK is also apotential market for Vietnam’s aquatic products.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the export value ofVietnamese aquatic products to the UK had hit nearly 258 million USD as of lateSeptember 2020, up 23 percent year-on-year.
The pandemic is changing the UK’s consumer and importtrends, with cheap products easy to consume and cook at home being a topchoice.
Therefore, frozen tra fish of Vietnam has a huge advantageand has become a key export of the Vietnamese agricultural sector.
However, insiders said that the UKVFTA also brings aboutmore challenges with stricter requirements.
They advised Vietnamese businesses to improve production,harvesting, preservation and processing to gain better product quality./.
VNA
