The Ministry of Industry and Trade had just released a report evaluating opportunities to promote exporting to CPTPP markets. Accordingly, they had assessed barriers of import and export activities in the period 2011-2018 in order to plan the direction for the next years.
From 2011 to 2018 Vietnam achieved an outstanding growth in export and import turnover. In 8 years, exports values increased 2.5x, from USD96.91bn in 2011 to USD243.4 bn in 2018. If in 2007, Vietnam was only ranked at 50th; by 2017, it had reached at 27th in export value.
At present, Vietnamese products have been sold in over 200 countries and territories. Asian markets represent 51% of total export turnover while American & European markets remain around 20-23%. In all markets where Vietnam signed Free Trade Agreements (FTA), its exports have recorded outstanding growth. In 2018, exports values to China reached USD41.2bn, up 16.6% compared to 2017, to ASEAN market reached USD24.74bn, up 13.9%, to Japan reached USD18.85bn, up 11.8% and to Korea reached USD18.2bn, up 22.8%.
Focus on the problem in exporting Vietnam agricultural products, The Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that negotiation processes to reduce import tariffs on Vietnam goods (through FTAs) has been doing well but struggling in processes for quality management, food safety and plant quarantine management. Therefore, although many products are tax-free, milk, pork, and some vegetables are still forbidden to be imported from Vietnam.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade pointed out that language barriers, geographical distances, commodity prices and logistics are also challenges that need to be addressed.
- VDSC