Exports from Vietnam to members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) increased sharply in 2019, according to a report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT).

The EU has always been the second-largest market of Vietnam's aquatic export. When the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) takes effect, aquatic exports to the EU are expected to grow robustly.

Vietnam’s economy is expected to gain enormously from the FTA with the EU. However, the country will face major criticism unless it adopts labor and human rights reforms.

In an exclusive Q&A with Dr. Richard Thurston – former Senior Vice President at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd, and “Of Counsel” with Duane Morris, LLP in New York, we take a closer look at the current international trade climate as Taiwan’s efforts to re-shore impact current trade relations while exposing a significant need for bilateral trade agreements and the need to improve opportunities in workforce development.

In the past six months, due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, export turnover of many key commodities has declined, and enterprises have encountered several difficulties. Ministries and provinces have implemented many solutions to find out the market for products, especially, they have adopted the application of electronic transactions into operation to reduce the risk of interrupting commercial transactions for enterprises.

Banks are upbeat about the trade finance market in spite of Covid-19-related challenges, according to a report by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Vietnam must hasten the process of issuing legal documents and institutional reform to implement free trade agreements (FTAs) and take advantage of these trade deals to boost exports, officials have said.

The Asia Media Centre in New Zealand ran an article on July 23 covering the formal elevation of Vietnam-New Zealand ties to a strategic partnership level, expressing its belief in the opportunities and potential of this relationship in the future.

Addressing heads of WTO member delegations for the last time as Chair of the Trade Negotiations Committee, Director-General Roberto Azevêdo emphasized that “keeping markets broadly open to trade” would help build “a post-COVID economic recovery that is strong, sustainable and inclusive”. He told the 20 July meeting that members’ policy choices, including at the WTO, would play an important role in laying the groundwork for a return to growth and job creation.

The Directorate of Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs at the US Department of State signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on July 22 in Hanoi on strengthening fishery law enforcement capacity.