UKVFTA Trade Committee convenes 2nd meeting in Hanoi

The event was co-chaired by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang and British Minister of State for International Trade Nigel Huddleston.

At the meeting, participants listened to reports on outcomes of meetings of professional committees that were held earlier.

Both Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang and British Minister of State for International Trade Nigel Huddleston hailed efforts of the committees in coordinating together and updating each other on each side’s legal regulations, contributing to effectively implementing the UKVFTA.

Besides, the two sides also discussed a number of issues such as the increase of Vietnamese rice exporters’ opportunities to access the UK market, and methods to calculate the free trade agreement utilization rate.

Concluding the meeting, the two sides agreed on the continuing to actively and closely cooperate at all levels to further enhance the exploitation of commitments of the deal, contributing to promoting the bilateral trade and investment.

The two sides agreed to hold the third meeting of the UKVFTA Trade Committee in London in 2024.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, trade between Vietnam and the UK rose 0.5% to 3.95 billion USD in the first seven months of this year, including Vietnam’s exports of 2.5 billion USD.

So far, the UK has run 536 direct investment projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of 4.28 billion USD, ranking 15th among 143 foreign investors in the country. In the first seven months of 2023, the UK invested in 28 new projects with total registered capital of 44.9 million USD in Vietnam.