UK, Vietnam augment partnership by materialising pledges within FTA

Both sides last month agreed to revise legal documents on market access, simplify import procedures and remove all possible obstructions for trade and investment with prohibition on unfair treatment of investments into their respective territories.

Graham Stuart, UK prime minister’s trade envoy to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, last month concluded a trip in Vietnam, where he worked with the government, the ministry of industry and trade, and other agencies on boosting the implementation of the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), which took effect on May 1 last year, and on the UK’s upcoming accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

“Vietnam is immensely significant to the UK’s trade agenda, as well as to the county’s growing focus on ASEAN and Asia-Pacific,” Stuart was quoted as saying by Vietnamese media reports.

“The UKVFTA is a strong propellant for amplifying trade. Our trade ties will be strengthened, especially on renewable energy, following Vietnam’s recent commitment to net zero,” Stuart said, revealing that the UK had recently secured a UK-linked offshore wind development project in Vietnam. Once completed, the wind farm will generate enough electricity for 1.6 million homes.

Before that Vietnam’s deputy minister of industry and trade Tran Quoc Khanh also visited the United Kingdom to work with the UK minister of state Penny Mordaunt on reviewing all commitments under UKVFTA, the great opportunities that the deal has brought to both nations, and the remaining challenges that need to be tackled moving into the second year of the agreement.

At the eighth UK-Vietnam Strategic Dialogue held in Hanoi in early March, both sides agreed that new mechanisms will be created to foster both nations’ bilateral ties in trade, investment, defence and security, climate change and sustainable development.

The United Kingdom on March 20 this year sent its offer to join the CPTPP to the deal’s member states, whose representatives will meet to discuss the offer before launching official negotiations with the UK. It is expected that the negotiations, which will be conducted with countries individually and simultaneously, will conclude by the year end.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)