Data from the General Statistics Office showed that Vietnam exported $1.75 billion worth of goods to the UK and imported $238 million from the market in the period.
Vietnam exported $1.75 billion worth of goods to the United Kingdom in four months.
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In the period, Vietnam imported from the UK $67 million worth of machineries, equipment and spare part, $45 million of pharmaceuticals and more than $13 million of chemicals.
Economic and trade relations between Vietnam and the UK have been developing fruitfully in recent years. Earlier in 2013-2017, the UK was among the 15 largest trade partners of Vietnam with average annual growth of nearly 5 percent. Two-way trade grew a total 44 percent in the review period to $6.15 billion in 2017 from $4.27 billion in 2013.
Last year, the UK was the eighth biggest export market of Vietnam, one position higher than 2016. Meanwhile, it was Vietnam's 26th biggest import market, down two positions compared to the previous year.
In the past five years, Vietnam's exports to the UK surged 46.4 percent to $5.42 billion, accounting for 2.5 percent of the country's total export volume.
In the same period, the Southeast Asian's import revenue in the UK market increased 30 percent, reaching $733 million in 2017.
Vietnam continuously enjoyed a large trade surplus with the UK, with last year's figure hitting $4.68 billion. The UK is also the third biggest trade partner of Vietnam among EU countries.
At a meeting with Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh late last year, British Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox said that the UK always considered Vietnam as an important and potential trade partner.
He reasserted the British government's commitment to further boosting trade ties with Vietnam, adding that the two countries should take new measures and initiatives to foster bilateral trade cooperation.
For his part, Anh affirmed that Vietnam has attached great importance to the multifaceted strategic partnership with the UK, and has been making every effort to promote bilateral cooperation.
Solutions and initiatives should focus on sharing information concerning import policies, trade barriers and management of fake goods management as well as increasing trade promotion and market studying activities, thus facilitating two-way trade, he stressed.
The minister proposed that the UK create favorable conditions for prestigious Vietnamese exporters to join distribution networks in the UK, especially for ago-aquatic products, textiles-garments and footwear.
Vietnam highly evaluates the dialogue mechanism of the Vietnam-UK Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO), considering this as a useful channel to regularly exchange measures and solutions to remove difficulties facing enterprises.
