British-brand Joseph Joseph housewares on a shelf of the Wundertute store in Aeon Mall Hà Đông. — VNS Photo Ly Ly Cao

HÀ NỘI — A year after the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) came into effect in early 2021, trade between the two countries has shown significant growth despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, said an official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Accordingly, trade between Việt Nam and the UK reached US$6.6 billion in 2021, an increase of 17 per cent on the year and equivalent to the pre-pandemic period.

While Vietnamese export to the UK rose 16.4 per cent year-on-year to $5.7 billion, UK’s export to Việt Nam also witnessed a gain of 23.6 per cent to nearly $850 million.

In 2021, products imported from the UK with the highest growth rate respectively were common metals (426 per cent), phones and components (219 per cent), textile, garment and footwear materials (24.7 per cent), pharmaceuticals (35.4 per cent), and cars (28 per cent), according to a Việt Nam News calculation based on the data from the General Department of Việt Nam Customs.

Vietnamese products with a sharp growth in shipments to the UK market were fruits and vegetables (67 per cent), coffee (17 per cent), pepper (49 per cent), iron and steel (1,269 per cent), and toys and sports equipment (19 per cent).

“The results showed that the UKVFTA is like a two-way high-speed train, helping us to boost exports to the UK and vice versa, the UK also increases exports to Việt Nam”, Ngô Chung Khanh, deputy head of Multilateral Trade Policy Department, at a webinar on “Promoting the strengths of businesses - Utilising opportunities from the UKVFTA.”

This helped equalise the trade balance between the two countries, he added.

Data from the General Department of Việt Nam Customs showed that in the first half of 2022, the country exported $2.9 billion of commodities to the UK while importing more than $372.5 million.

This shows the activeness and initiative of enterprises in exploiting new opportunities from the agreement. — VNS