HCM CITY — Bilateral trade between Việt Nam and Australia is poised to grow thanks to lower tariffs under free trade agreements, according to Võ Tân Thành, deputy director of Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Speaking at a conference on Việt Nam and Australia’s relations on Tuesday, Thành said that Australia would remove 90 per cent of its import tariffs from ASEAN and New Zealand within 2018, and the remaining 10 per cent in 2020, in accordance with the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.

In addition, the upcoming Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership would help promote trade between Việt Nam and Australia.

Thành said that the two countries have had a close business partnership for 45 years and have seen great developments in trade, investment and tourism.

Australia is Việt Nam’s eighth biggest trade partner and has invested around 400 projects valued at US$1.8 billion into the country, ranked 19th among 126 countries and territories that invest in Việt Nam.

Vietnamese companies are also investing in several projects in Australia.

Thành is confident that Australia will rise to be one of the top 10 countries investing in Việt Nam in the future.

Australia is one of Việt Nam’s biggest Official Development Assistance fund contributors, investing around $150 million to Việt Nam annually.

However, according to Lê Thanh Tùng, director of Tiến Thịnh International Migration and Investment Consulting, while Việt Nam is Australia’s 15th largest import market, Việt Nam’s export value to Australia only accounts for 1.7 per cent of Australia’s total import turnover. 

There would be more opportunity for Vietnamese companies to increase their export volume to Australia, with the help of market research and counselling, he said.

However, he added that Australia had tough requirements for the goods it imports, so Vietnamese firms must ensure that their goods meet Australian requirements.

Gary Dawes, senior trade advisor from Austrade TradeStart and New South Wales Business Chamber, said that exporting Vietnamese goods to Australia could be a good way for Việt Nam to enter other foreign markets as Australia is the 5^th most developed economy in the Asia-Pacific region and also exports to other markets such as New Zealand and US.

He also advised Vietnamese firms before investing to carefully research Australia’s demands and make sure they stand out from competitors.

In 2017, bilateral trade was at $6.5 billion. Việt Nam exported $3.3 billion worth of goods to Australia. — VNS