Preckwinkle promises no tax hike 2020 budget

The Hanoitimes – The initial results of the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement promise to continue creating new impetus for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries in the coming time.

Since the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) took effect on January 1, the bilateral trade turnover between the two countries has recorded a spectacular rise in the context of exports disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Vietnamese rice exports to EU. Photo: Vinaseed

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in January, the total trade turnover between Vietnam and the UK reached US$657.3 million, up 78.6% over the same period last year.

Vietnam’s exports to the UK reached US$598 million worth of goods, up 84.6% compared to last January and 56.5% to last December.

Among Vietnam’s exports to the UK,  farm produce attained stable and positive growth in January, with seafood reaching US$19.7 million, representing a rise of 18.1% over the same period last year, and vegetables and fruits with US$1 million, increasing 148.6%.

Chart: Phi Nhat

Vietnamese shipments to the UK get opportunities to rise drastically and expand market share thanks to many tariff preferential treatment under the agreement, according to the MoIT.

Under the trade deal, more than 94% of the total 547 tariff lines of vegetable and fruit will be reduced to zero. Many Vietnamese key products such as litchi, longan, rambutan, dragon fruit, pineapple and melon will have more market access advantages over tropical fruits originating from rivals such as Brazil, Thailand and Malaysia, the countries that have not signed an FTA with the UK.

Chart: Phi Nhat

Shipments of the group of processing and manufacturing industries to the UK achieved an impressive growth in January such as phones and components (up 371.6% over the same period last year), followed by machinery, equipment and spare parts (109.9%), computers and electronic components (91%); iron and steel of all kinds (11%).

In 2020, the bilateral trade reached US$5.64 billion in value, in which Vietnam exported goods worth US$4.95 billion to the UK and enjoyed a trade surplus of US$4.27 billion. The UK continued to be the third largest trading partner of Vietnam in Europe, behind Germany and the Netherlands.

The Hanoitimes – The two countries keen on trade and energy cooperation.

Vietnam and the United Kingdom will tighten co-operation to implement the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) effectively, promoting the import and export of goods and increasing bilateral trade value between the two countries.

A tra (catfish) processing line. Tra products are entitled to a zero % tax rate when exported to the UK.

The co-operation plan was a key content discussed by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Dang Hoang An and British Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward at a meeting held recently in Hanoi.

At the meeting, the two leaders agreed that the UKVKTA, which took place on December 31, 2020 and being temporarily applied from January 1, 2021, will be a new driving force to take off the good relations on trade and investment in Vietnam and the UK.

Despite extremely negative impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the trade exchange between the two sides still reached US$5.6 billion, in which Vietnam gained export value of $4.95 billion and import value of $687 million from and to the UK.

The UK continues to be the third largest export market of Vietnam in the European region.

From the first days of January 2021, the Vietnam’s shipment of 60 tons of fragrant rice exported to the UK has enjoyed tariff preferences under the agreement, opening up new opportunities for the two countries’ business community.

The two sides agreed to give priority to the organization of the 12th Joint Economics and Trade Committee in the UK (JETCO 12) meeting this year when the Covid-19 pandemic is under control. Before the meeting, the two sides will hold online meetings, seminars and dialogues to discuss solutions to removing problems in every specific fields.

Mr. Gareth Ward said the UK wanted to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to organize online dialogues in the field of energy development, including a dialogue on renewable energy that will focus on solutions to strengthen the investors’ confidence and another on energy transition in Vietnam in the framework of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which will be held in the UK on November 1-12 this year.

Deputy Minister An highly appreciated the UK’s commitment to host the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. He emphasized that the renewable energy development plan is an important content in the Vietnam Politburo’s Resolution No.55-NQ/TW dated February 11, 2020 on the orientation of the National Energy Development Strategy of Vietnam to 2030, with a vision to 2045.

“The Vietnam’s goal is to ensure an adequate energy supply for socio-economic development, in parallel with the task of gradually increasing the proportion of clean energy use,” Mr. An said.

In 2020, a number of Vietnam’s commodities exported to the UK have a good growth, including seafood, vegetables, rubber products, and iron and steel products. Meanwhile, the country’s import products from the UK, comprising animal feed and raw materials, materials of textile, garment and footwear, mobile phones and components, and chemical products, were seen increased sharply.

Addressing the conference, the PM said the Government has managed to ensure people’s lives and livelihoods, describing its achievements last year as positive when every issue related to education, society, health care, security, and national solidarity received attention.

One of the important plans the Government has carried out include a stimulus package worth 250 billion RM (61.7 billion USD) issued on March 27, 2020, that was designed to protect people, support enterprises, and consolidate the economy.

Later, another 15 billion RM package was unveiled to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak, protect people’s welfare, and keep business activities uninterrupted under the pandemic’s impact.

Most recently, the Malaysian Government has launched the national COVID-19 vaccination plan with a view to giving injections to about 80 percent of the population. This plan will be carried out until February 2022 and divided into three phases, according to the PM.

To curb the coronavirus transmission, the Government has also tightened the movement control order but still allowed new business households to operate under strict standard operating procedures (SOP) in the areas recording high infections, known as “red zones”, so as to ease the pandemic’s impact on small-scale traders.

It is set to provide additional assistance for the poor and the businesses unable to reopen while paying focus on national digitalisation and reform.

The unemployment rate in Malaysia dropped to 4.8 percent in December 2020, and the country’s economy is expected to resume growth from the second quarter this year.

Source: VNA

The Vietnamese delegation actively participated in the discussions with the aim of reaching consensus and promoting negotiations in order to early achieve satisfactory solutions for all parties, towards realising the sustainable development goal (SDG) 14.6 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the UN.

At a meeting of heads of delegation to the WTO, Chair of the WTO negotiating group, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, briefed the participants on the work that has been done since January 2021.

Wills reiterated that the WTO members should begin to express their views on an acceptable outcome that can lead the successful conclusion of negotiations, aiming to protect aquatic resources worldwide.

Many statements delivered at the meeting noted the differences of views on the three issues discussed in the latest negotiation round, while proposing to use many different forms of negotiation to find solutions to narrowing the differences.

A number of members welcomed the call of new WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on February 15 to introduce the WTO’s new rules on fisheries subsidies as soon as possible in 2021.

The next round of negotiations on fisheries subsidies will start on March 15. WTO members can also conduct consultations before the next round of negotiations.

The WTO’s 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11) and SDG 14.6 give negotiators the task of securing an agreement on eliminating subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and to prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing by the end of 2020. WTO members committed to build on their 2020 progress and reach a resolution in 2021.

SDG 14.6, part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by all United Nations member states, including Vietnam, in 2015, affirms the WTO’s role in the global fisheries subsidies agenda.

It targets to “by 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and eliminate subsidies that contribute to IUU fishing, and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognising that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the WTO fisheries subsidies negotiation.”

A young man in central Vietnam has helped his family escape poverty by chicken breeding and planting peach trees.