To better take advantage of incentives from the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the United Kingdom (UKVFTA), Vietnamese exporters need to pay attention to the greenest and fairest trade, which is currently a growing trend. inevitability of global trade.

Since the UK exited the European Union, the country has been building its own set of trade rules and regulations, in accordance with the "Global Britain" policy. In particular, promote green and fair trade policies, in parallel with negotiating, signing and implementing a series of trade agreements with partners around the world, including the Vietnam Trade Agreement. Vietnam – UK freedom (UKVFTA).

According to the representative of the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, foreign investors, including British businesses, are increasingly concerned about environmental and climate issues, and there is no doubt that Vietnamese businesses must change quickly to adapt better.

Green trade is an opportunity to create environmentally friendly goods and services, an opportunity for goods to adapt to increasingly high standards related to environmental protection and combating climate change. This is also a "green criterion" for exports to the UK market. However, the process of achieving the carbon neutrality target will shift the comparative advantage of exports from labor- and energy-intensive sectors to sectors that apply more advanced and greener techniques.

According to Ms. Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, Deputy Director of the European - American Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), in the coming time, with new environmental standards, Vietnamese exporters must grasp the green trend, innovate technology, improve capacity, towards green production.

Pursuing a product greening strategy will help customers in foreign markets have more sympathy for businesses' products, creating a competitive advantage.

Vietnam is in the process of transition to implement international commitments on sustainable development, energy saving and climate commitments. For businesses, this is also an opportunity to create environmentally friendly goods and services, an opportunity for goods to adapt to increasingly high standards related to environmental protection and climate change. climate change.

Mr. Pham Nguyen Hung - Deputy Director of the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Industry and Trade said: "Switching fuel in the electricity industry will help strongly in energy transition and achieve the net emissions target by 2050." .

In addition to electricity, export industries also expect to find opportunities in the UK market.

According to Ms. Ly Thi Ngan - Chief of Office of the Vietnam Aluminum Association, based on the UKVFTA Agreement, Vietnamese aluminum products also have many advantages. Expanding exports to the UK market is also the goal of domestic aluminum producers.

The UKVFTA Agreement officially takes effect from May 1, 2021. Regarding trade in goods, the UK commits to eliminating 85.6% of tariff lines for Vietnamese goods as soon as the Agreement takes effect (from January 1, 2021), eliminating up to 99.2% of tariff lines. tax from January 1, 2027, and 0.8% of the remaining tariff lines will enjoy tariff quotas (with import tax within the quota being 0%).

With these commitments, many of Vietnam's strong products such as seafood, textiles, electronic components, wooden furniture, coffee, rice, fruits... will have an advantage when accessing the UK market in the context of Many countries do not yet have FTAs with the UK, catching up with the wave of shifting demand due to the UK's green and sustainable development trend.

In 2022, the total annual two-way trade turnover will increase by 3.3%. Among them, many key export products of Vietnam have good growth such as: coffee (up 61%); gemstones, precious metals and products (up 56%); toys, sports equipment and parts (up 59%); footwear of all kinds (up 40%); textiles (up 36%); electric wires and cables (up 30%); electronic products and components (up 28%); machinery, equipment, tools and other spare parts (up 37%)... In addition, phones of all kinds and components still reach a turnover of over 1 billion USD.

On the contrary, some of the UK's strong export products continue to achieve large turnover such as: pharmaceuticals (81.9 million USD); other machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts (184 million USD); complete cars of all types (28.5%); as well as many industries with stable growth rates such as: chemical products (up 3.5%), plastic products (up 28.3%), seafood (23.8%)...

Minh Toan