The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a double-edged sword as it brings both opportunities and challenges to Vietnamese exports, said economic experts. Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong from the Hanoi Institute of Socio-economic Development said that the FTA signing has provided Vietnam with an equal position on all aspects with member countries in the agreement and as a result, the country’s exports have seen remarkable improvements in turnover, products and markets year by year, except 2009 when the world suffered an economic crisis.

Apparel enterprises have proved to be the best in capitalising on the country’s WTO membership to increase export earnings. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, apparel exports expanded 32 percent more than the 2006 figure to 7.8 billion USD in 2007, the year Vietnam joined the world’s largest trade organisation. The value then steadily rose to 9.1 billion USD on average in 2008 and 2009, the time when orders were trimmed down due to effects from the global financial crisis.

The Vietnam National Cement Association reported that the country is expected to export 1.5 million tonnes of cement in 2011, an increase of 0.5 million tonnes from 2010. Nguyen Van Diep, an office manager of the Vietnam National Cement Association said that this year Vietnam will put additional 12 cement plats into operation, with a total capacity of 10.18 million tonnes. This will bring the total production output of the cement sector to nearly 60 million tonnes in 2011.

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Blossoming trade between Brazil and China has brought benefits to both economies but also caused increasing strains as Brazilian manufacturers struggle to compete with a wave of Chinese imports. Here are some facts about trade between the two fast-growing emerging market economies. * Just three commodities -- iron ore, soy and crude oil -- account for more than three-quarters of Brazil's exports to China. Overall, raw materials accounted for about 84 percent of Brazilian exports in 2010, up from 79 percent the year before.

The coffee price on the Central Highland provinces reached VND40,200 per kilogram on February 4, up VND1,000 compared to the days before Tet and a record price for recent years. The price of robusta coffee in the London market was US$2,239 per tonne on February 3, the highest since the beginning of this year, and this made the world coffee market hotter. In Vietnam, coffee buying and purchasing were delayed because farmers are taking time off for the Tet holiday. This impacted the coffee exchange in London and partly contributed to raising the price.

The United States on Friday rejected a Mexican government proposal to break the deadlock in long-stalled world trade talks, saying it failed to achieve the amount of new market opening needed for a deal. Trade ministers agreed last week to push for an outline deal in the decade-old talks by July, and instruct their negotiators at World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva to make the necessary compromises to reach an agreement.

“In 2011, the garment and textile sector should strive to be among the top three garment and textile exporters in the world”, said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai at a recent conference to implement the sector’s tasks for 2011. Industries aim for a bigger share of total exports The Vietnam Garment and Textile Association (Vitas) has reported that Vietnam’s garments and textiles currently account for 2.5 percent of the world’s total market share. The sector is set to achieve more than US$13 billion in turnover in 2011 due to a growing global market share.

Vietnam has become more active in negotiating and participating in free trade agreements (FTAs) both at regional and global levels as part of its increasingly deep global integration. Deputy Industry and Trade minister Nguyen Cam Tu tells VIR about the both upsides and challenges that the signing of FTAs brings to Vietnam. Vietnam has so far inked seven FTAs – with the Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN), China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India.

Meeting minutes within the scope of the fourth Vietnam-United Kingdom (UK) Joint Economic and Trade Committee Meeting (JETCO 4) was signed on January 26 in Hanoi featuring the UK ’s support for strengthening Vietnam-European Union (EU) trade ties.Under the minutes, the UK promised to vigorously support an early EU recognition of Vietnam’s market economy status and provide established criteria and support for the removal of Anti-Dumping tax on Vietnam’s footwear with leather uppers.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Of the raft of global risks confronting business and political bigwigs at Davos, the threat of a trade war is one of the scariest. Open markets and trade are the essence of the globalisation that delivered rising prosperity for decades until interrupted by the credit crunch and economic downturn.