Sport shoes are made for export a factory in Hà Nội. The city will help local businesses join sector linkages, create value chains and supply chains with the participation of UK businesses to take advantage of the UKVFTA. — VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh

HÀ NỘI — The capital city will seek to improve competitiveness for local businesses so that they may take advantage of opportunities brought by the UK-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), according to a recently announced plan of the municipal People's Committee.

Under the plan, priority will be given to facilitating the development of small and medium-sized enterprises through capital, training, access to markets and information and technology.

The city will also help local businesses link with each other, create value chains and supply chains with the participation of UK businesses to take advantage of the UKVFTA while encouraging the UK-invested businesses to team up with local firms to build and develop these supply chains.

Furthermore, it will focus on restructuring the agricultural industry, facilitating digital transformation, applying science and technology and advancing production models in the direction of improving product quality while ensuring the environment protection and product traceability to meet domestic and international standards.

The city will also seek to improve the quality of human resources, providing specialised skills training for businesses and stepping up investment, trade and tourism promotion, according to the plan.

Statistics from the municipal People's Committee showed that the city's export turnover in the first half of this year saw a yearly increase of 17 per cent to US$8.3 billion. Of that total, domestic enterprises posted a turnover of $4.6 billion, up 17.5 per cent while foreign-invested firms earned $3.7 billion from exports, up 16.6 per cent.

Some key items recording a strong turnover in H1 included textiles and garments with $1.22 billion, up 30 per cent; computer components and peripheral devices (over $1 billion, up 20 per cent); wood and wood products ($439 million, up 28 per cent).

The Prime Minister has approved a plan for the implementation of the UKVFTA that aims to assign tasks and responsibilities to relevant agencies and organisations, and decide on measures to implement the deal fully and effectively.

Under the plan, the Government leader requested ministries, sectors and localities to step up the dissemination of information about the UKVFTA as well as the British market, build laws and institutions, enhance the competitiveness and develop human resources to improve social welfare, environmental protection and sustainable development policies, and carry out regular and assigned tasks.

Top priority will be also given to popularising information about the agreement and the British market to relevant persons, especially farmers, fishermen and workers via different means of communications to raise their awareness of the deal’s commitments as well as work that needs to be done towards effective enforcement.

The PM also asked ministries, sectors and localities to speed up the implementation of trade and investment promotion programmes in the UK, and continue perfecting necessary institutions to enforce the agreement, improve the competitiveness of industries and businesses, especially micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises.

At the same time, attention should be paid to assisting Vietnamese enterprises in joining production networks and value and supply chains of British businesses, while encouraging British-invested companies to connect with domestic partners to form and develop supply chains. — VNS