Vietnamese, Singaporean firms tap FTAs with EU, UK to expand cooperation

Participants at the event (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - A webinar discussing ways for Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses can fully tap opportunities brought by free trade agreements (FTAs) with the European Union (EU) and the UK to expand their cooperation was jointly held by the Vietnam Embassy and the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore on August 28.

The event saw the participation of leading experts on FTAs, representatives from more than 200 Vietnamese and Singaporean enterprises, and multinational companies in Singapore.

In his speech at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador Mai Phuoc Dung said Vietnam and Singapore are the two countries with the highest economic openness in Southeast Asia and also the only two ASEAN countries that have signed FTAs with the EU and the UK.

This proves that the two countries’ governments and businesses have the same goal of participating in economic links to diversify export markets, and participate more deeply in global value chains and product networks towards improving their competitiveness and promoting sustainable growth.

Since these FTAs took effect, both countries have witnessed strong growth in exports to the EU and UK markets.

Last year, exports of Vietnam and Singapore to the EU increased by about 18 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Vietnam also witnessed an impressive growth rate in exports to the UK recently.

One of many fields with great opportunities for cooperation between Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses is exporting agricultural products and processed foods to the EU and UK, the diplomat noted.

Vietnamese enterprises can double their export values to these markets by 2025 if they can exploit advantages and expand investment in deep processing and promote brands abroad. Meanwhile, processed food is still one of the top ten products having a high proportion in Singapore's export structure.

Singaporean agencies and businesses are seeking ways to promote export of processed foods by diversifying supply resources of raw agricultural products from Vietnam, he said

In addition, taking advantage of the principle of origin to coordinate in manufacturing original equipment, jointly exploiting brands and a network of import partners, developing logistics and e-commerce cooperation mechanisms for processed food sector to jointly make inroads into the EU and UK markets, are larger prospects that Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses can tap to expand their cooperation.

Participants at the event also focused their discussions on practices for applying the FTAs with the EU and UK to reduce import taxes.