Seafood processed at Ngo Quyen Export JSC in Kien Giang for export to Australia. (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Australia and New Zealand have huge potential for
Vietnamese products like farm produce, aquatic products, coffee, cashew,
computers, telephones and garments, said Nguyen Phuc Nam, deputy director of
the Department of Asia-Pacific Market under the Ministry of Industry and Trade
at a conference held in Hanoi on July 28.
The ASEAN-Australia- New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), which took effect
from January 1, 2010, plays a key role in enhancing economic relations, trade
and investment between ASEAN and Australia and New Zealand, Nam said.
Within the agreement framework, ASEAN countries can enjoy 90 to 100 per cent
tariff reductions in Australian and New Zealand markets, and Vietnamese firms
should take full advantage of this potential, he said.
He noted that Australia and New Zealand were among the biggest importers in the
world since both economies are largely dependent on imported products.
Vietnam’s chief exports to these two markets include agricultural products,
seafood, coffee beans, cashews, electronics parts, textiles, footwear and
construction material.
If the AANZFTA was utilized well, Vietnamese producers could enjoy all the
privileges contained therein, boosting export turnover and earning handsome
profits, Nam said.
Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that trade between
Vietnam and Australia hit 5.26 billion USD in 2016, up 6.5 percent
year-on-year. Particularly, Vietnam enjoyed trade surplus of 480 million USD
with Australia in the year.
According to Phan Thi Dieu Linh, expert from the Department of Asia-Pacific
Market, although Australian consumers are favoured of locals products, they are
still open with imported ones, which have high quality, good looking and
rational prices. This factor also facilitates Vietnamese exports, she
underlined.
Meanwhile, Trinh Thi Thu Hien from the Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry
of Industry and Trade, stated that there is large room for Vietnamese shipments
to Australia as export revenue is still humble, standing at 1.6 percent of
total export values in Australia.
Hien
said that the AANZFTA is being carried out in the context of deeper regional
and global integration which supports the development in Vietnam-Australia and
New Zealand relations. Domestic businesses should apply international standards
to meet increasing demands of foreign customers and become more competitive
with foreign rivals, she highlighted.-VNA