UK trade preferences come with strict requirements

Detailed summary

The UK is a promising market for Vietnamese exporters, but success depends on businesses' own initiative, a trade official has said.

Speaking at a seminar on strategies for accessing the UK market through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) in Ho Chi Minh City on November 10, Ho Thi Quyen, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), said, "The UK is one of the world's major economies, with strong purchasing power and a well-developed distribution network, making it a promising export market for Vietnamese goods. However, the market also imposes stringent requirements on product quality, technical standards, food safety, traceability, and environmental and social responsibility."

According to Quyen, the concurrent implementation of the UKVFTA and the UK's accession to CPTPP, which took effect in late 2024, has given businesses additional options when developing export strategies, allowing them to select the most appropriate preferences based on individual products and rules of origin, and to explore overseas investment strategies.

"While the market opportunities and preferences offered by free trade agreements are clear advantages, the ability to turn these benefits into orders, contracts, and a long-term presence in the UK market depends first and foremost on the initiative and capabilities of individual businesses," Quyen said.

The seminar aimed to help businesses stay updated on market opportunities and preferential terms under the UKVFTA and the CPTPP. It also sought to help them make more effective use of the agreements, meet export requirements, develop market-entry strategies and expand distribution channels in the UK.

Providing an in-depth analysis of how the two agreements operate, Canh Trinh, lecturer at the Faculty of International Business and Marketing at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, said Vietnam is currently the UK's 17th-largest goods supplier, accounting for 1.2 per cent of the country's total imports, and ranks 65th in services…

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