Vietnam-Australia trade forecast to set new record this year

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Two-way trade between Vietnam and Australia is expected to surpass the projection of 15 billion USD and set a new record in 2022.

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s ongoing official visit to Australia is also hoped to open up new opportunities for bilateral cooperation to turn the bilateral ties into a comprehensive strategic partnership.

At present, Vietnam and Australia are both members of at least three free trade agreements (FTAs), namely the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and most recently the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Thanks to these deals, bilateral trade hit 12.4 billion USD in 2021, up nearly 50% against the previous year, and surpassed the 12 billion USD in the first nine months of the year, up 31.5% year-on-year.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia, the chance for Vietnamese goods to enter the Australian market is very favourable, as the tax rate levied on Vietnam's exports to Australia has been brought down to almost 0%.

Notably, at the end of 2021, Vietnam and Australia signed a strategy to strengthen economic ties with an aim to turn the two countries into the top 10 trading partners of each other and double bilateral investment. This is a premise to create favourable conditions for businesses of the two countries to expand cooperation.

Chu Thang Trung, Deputy Director of the Trade Remedies Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that expanding exports to the Australian market can help enterprises persify markets and take advantage of opportunities brought about by FTAs.

However, it is necessary to prepare solutions to deal with trade remedy investigations from this market in order to ensure legitimate interests of enterprises, he stressed, adding that Australia has to date conducted nearly 20 trade remedy investigations against Vietnamese exports.

The ministry has promoted coordination among ministries, sectors and Government agencies at central and local levels in handling trade remedy cases, and guided Vietnamese firms to handle these cases more effectively and better meet the rules of origin to take advantage of the benefits of the signed FTAs./.

VNA