Total UK exports to Vietnam added up to £905 million during the reviewed period, according to the UK’s Department of International Trade (DIT). Of this, the export of services was valued at £287 million and the export of goods was worth £618 million. Some of the major products that were shipped from the UK to Vietnam include pulp and wastepaper, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, metal ore and scrap, scientific instruments, and beverages.

Moreover, the most popular goods imported to the UK from Vietnam were clothing, footwear, furniture, telecoms and sound equipment, and iron and steel. It has been deduced that the bilateral free trade agreement between the UK and Vietnam, which was in effect from May 1, 2021, has been responsible for the increase in trade between the two countries thanks to its wide-range tariff elimination, according to various media reports.

Vietnam marked a trade surplus of more than $4.7 billion with the UK in the four quarters till March 2022 — an almost 22 per cent increase over the corresponding period in 2021. Recent data revealed that total trade in goods and services, both exports and imports, between the UK and Vietnam was £5.7 billion, which is a rise of 15 per cent year-on-year.

There is potential for even further trade profits because Vietnam is the UK’s 36th largest trading partner, and accounts for only 0.4 per cent of total UK trade.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)