On January 18, 2022, the Workshop "E-commerce in the UKVFTA Agreement - the key to promoting trade growth between Vietnam and the UK" was coordinated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade with the UK Embassy in Vietnam in Hanoi. This seminar welcomed both live and online participation of experts from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Ministry of International Trade of the United Kingdom, and a large number of business representatives from Vietnam and the United Kingdom.

The Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the United Kingdom (UKVFTA) has undergone 1 year of implementation with many promising results. In 2021, the bilateral trade between Vietnam and the UK is estimated to have reached nearly 6.62 billion USD with both the import and export values increasing by double digits. The value of goods export from Vietnam to the UK reached nearly 5.8 billion USD, up 16.4% compared to 2020; whilst the value of goods imported from the UK into Vietnam reached US$849 million, up 23.6% year-on-year.

On January 18, 2022, the Workshop "E-commerce in the UKVFTA Agreement - the key to promoting trade growth between Vietnam and the UK" was coordinated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade with the UK Embassy in Vietnam in Hanoi. This seminar welcomed both live and online participation of experts from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Ministry of International Trade of the United Kingdom, and a large number of business representatives from Vietnam and the United Kingdom.

Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has continued to cause worldwide disruptions and complications, leaving a significant impact on the economies of Vietnam and the UK. However, the pandemic has also facilitated the promotion of many new business models, especially online and e-commerce forms. This is evident from the data of e-commerce activities in the world and in Vietnam (Vietnam's e-commerce growth rate is about 15%). Although the traditional trade exchange between Vietnam and the UK has still achieved positive results despite the pandemic, it is believed that businesses and people of the two countries would have reaped more benefits had e-commerce been more utilised to promote these trade opportunities.

With the UKVFTA already come into effect, the seminar was an opportunity for businesses and regulators of both Viet Nam and the UK to discuss and find solutions to further promote bilateral cooperation opportunities through e-commerce, helping to maximise the benefits introduced by the FTA, flexibly adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the seminar, experts from both countries focused on providing information about the commitments on e-commerce in the UKVFTA Agreement, digital cooperation networks, and developing trends in e-commerce, cooperation opportunities between the two sides as well as the current extent to which e-commerce is applied in promoting bilateral trade between Vietnam and the UK. In addition, experts also discussed and answered questions from businesses about specific issues related to the practice of e-commerce application in import and export activities, trends and solutions. measures to take advantage of opportunities from the UKVFTA Agreement, and to promote bilateral trade.

In the future, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will continue to coordinate with relevant agencies of Vietnam and the UK to organize various activities to further enhance the ability to take advantage of opportunities from the UKVFTA Agreement. for the practical benefits of businesses and people of the two countries./.