Exports to UK grow despite economic downturn

Bilateral trade between Viet Nam and the UK increased by an estimated 15 per cent this year, an impressive growth in light of the fact that much of the world is still struggling to achieve economic recovery. The commercial counsellor at the Vietnamese embassy in Britain, An The Dung, spoke to London-based Vietnam News Agency correspondent Ngan Binh about his expectations for even stronger growth in trade and investment between the two countries in 2011.

How would you assess trade and investment growth in 2010?

The bilateral relationship between Viet Nam and the UK has been rapidly developing in recent years. It was elevated to a higher level of strategic partnership under a joint statement signed during the visit to the UK by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem in September of this year. This new development will provide a framework to comprehensively strengthen bilateral ties. The two governments will make efforts to increase bilateral trade value to US$4 billion and the UK’s foreign direct investment in Viet Nam to $3 billion by 2013.

Bilateral trade grew 18.6 per cent in the first 10 months of this year, making the figure a little higher than that for all of 2009. During this period, British companies imported goods from Viet Nam worth over a billion pounds (US$1.6 billion), an increase of 15 per cent.

It is expected that overall trade value for 2010 will reach 1.5 billion pounds (around $2.4 billion), 15 per cent higher than last year, an impressive result in difficult economic times. I think 2011 will be a busy year for Viet Nam and the UK in trade and investment on the basis of this year’s impressive results.

What products do British companies traditionally import from Viet Nam?

Exports to the UK with high trade value include footwear, garments and textiles and wood, agricultural and seafood products. Handbags, plastics and rubber have all demonstrated high potential for export to this market. In the first 10 months of 2010, all of these goods except footwear posted a high growth.

Viet Nam could sell more coffee, cashews and rice, as well as plastics and rubber if Vietnamese exporters improved the quality of these goods and conducted a more effective marketing effort. I say that because companies like Nestle and Armajaro buy and distribute a large amount of Vietnamese coffee here. While the quality of Vietnamese rice is not inferior to that of Thailand, it is not widely known here yet.

How can British investors find out about the Vietnamese market?

According to a new report published by UK Trade and Investment and the Economist Intelligence Unit in September, Viet Nam has been selected as the numbe-one investment destination after the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China for a third consecutive year.

The report was based on a survey of over 520 global executives from every sector, with all respondents already doing business in emerging markets or planning to do so in the next two years. Viet Nam is ranked among the top three markets for investors in the next two years – after China and above India.

We see that British companies’ interest in doing business in Viet Nam is a reality, promising future strong growth in bilateral trade and investment ties.

What are you doing to help Vietnamese companies find opportunities to do business in the UK?

We will increase the efficiency of market forecasting to foresee export problems and release timely warnings to exporters. A guide will also be completed and published next year to provide Vietnamese enterprises with necessary information about this market.

In collaboration with the UK Trade and Investment Agency, we will also organise at least one British business delegation to visit Viet Nam next year. We will also co-operate with related organisations to send a Vietnamese delegation to an international plastics exhibition to be held in London in September 2011.

We advise Vietnamese companies to actively participate in expos in the UK to gather firsthand information and take advantage of these opportunities to market products. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam exports