The signing ceremony of the Memoranda of Understanding on stock exchange (Photo: VNA)During the session held via video conference on January 25,Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Dang Hoang An noted despiteimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two-way trade in 2020 increasedconsiderably compared to that of 2019.
Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customsshow bilateral trade last year hit 478.33 million USD, a year-on-year increaseof 29.48 percent. Of the total, Vietnamese exports to Ukraine brought back284.8 million USD, up 15.04 percent, while imports from Ukraine rose 58.81percent to 193.5 million USD.
An, who co-chaired the session, suggested that both sideswork closely together to create a favourable legal framework for key Vietnamesefarm products such as seafood, meat, and fresh fruits to access the Ukrainianmarket more easily, and similarly for key Ukrainian goods such as cereals, meatand milk on the other way.
For his part, Ukrainian Deputy Minister for EconomicDevelopment, Trade and Agriculture Taras Kachka proposed that both sides enterinto a free trade agreement (FTA) to enable their businesses to enjoy taxpreferences in their import-export activities.
Ukraine and Vietnam should soon complete a feasibility studyof the FTA based on a joint study done in 2014, he said.
According to the official, in its foreign policyorientations in 2021, Ukraine plans to promote cooperation with theAsia-Pacific region and hopes to accelerate FTA negotiations with Vietnam,China and Indonesia.
During the session, both sides also examined the potentialfor bilateral cooperation in other fields such as diplomacy, finance, industry,agriculture, science – technology, especially space science, environmentalresources and health.
The two signed the minutes of the session and witnessed thesigning of two Memoranda of Understanding on stock exchange and space researchcooperation./.
VNA
