In recent years, trade activities between Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been very active. The UAE is currently Vietnam's largest trade partner in the Middle East and North Africa, with two-way turnover reaching approximately 5 billion USD.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Photo: Duong Giang-VNA
However, according to experts, trade relations between the two countries could explode even more strongly if the two sides sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
More and more exciting
Vietnam and the UAE officially established diplomatic relations on August 1, 1993. Over the past 30 years, the Vietnam-UAE friendship and cooperation have been increasingly developing positively in many fields such as politics, diplomacy, trade, investment, labor and tourism. Political trust and mutual understanding between the two countries have been constantly strengthened.
Politically, in recent years, delegation exchanges between the two countries have been very active at many levels, notably on the Vietnamese side, there was a visit to the UAE by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien (April 2023) and Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan (May 2023), and on the UAE side, there was a visit to Vietnam by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan (June 2023) and UAE Minister of State for International Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi (June 2023)... These visits have contributed to deepening bilateral relations, while opening up many opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in many fields in the coming time.
In terms of trade, the UAE is currently Vietnam's largest partner in the Middle East with trade turnover in recent years always reaching approximately 5 billion USD. In recent years, Vietnam has always had a trade surplus with the UAE market with a value of over 4 billion USD/year. Notably, export groups in which Vietnam has strengths such as agricultural products, seafood, processed foods, textiles, footwear, electronic products, machinery, equipment, etc. continue to show an upward trend in both export volume and value. Currently, the two countries are striving to achieve the target of 10 billion USD in trade turnover in the near future.
In terms of investment, the UAE is one of the major investors in Vietnam. UAE investors currently have 38 direct investment projects in Vietnam, with a total capital of 71.4 million USD (accumulated to October 2023).
New push coming soon
During his visit and working session in the UAE in April 2023, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien and Minister of State for International Trade, Ministry of Foreign Trade of the UAE Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi signed a Ministerial Statement on launching CEPA negotiations.
Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and UAE Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Trade Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi announced the launch of CEPA negotiations. Photo: VNA
According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan, since the start of negotiations, Vietnam and the UAE have gone through three negotiation sessions on CEPA with the following contents: trade in goods, trade in services, investment facilitation, rules of origin, intellectual property, digital trade, trade defense, sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS), technical barriers to trade (TBT), customs and trade facilitation, government procurement, legal and institutional issues, economic cooperation and small and medium enterprises.
“With these contents, the CEPA between Vietnam and the UAE is considered a comprehensive agreement and promises to ensure a balance of interests for both Vietnam and the UAE,” said Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan also said that with determination and efforts at all levels of Vietnam and the UAE, the two sides have achieved important progress and signed a working minutes on the content package to conclude negotiations so that it can be reported to the leaders of both sides for decision.
According to experts, if signed, CEPA will be the first free trade agreement between Vietnam and an Arab country in the Middle East and Africa. Therefore, CEPA is expected to be a new “boost” for trade relations between Vietnam and the UAE.
Experts believe that CEPA will boost Vietnam’s exports to the UAE and boost UAE investment in Vietnam. In addition, this agreement may help expand cooperation between the two countries to other potential areas such as innovation, renewable energy, investment, logistics, technology, tourism, agriculture, etc.
Explaining the above statement, experts said that in the economic structure of the UAE, agriculture accounts for only 0.9% (mainly livestock and date cultivation), industry accounts for 49.8% (mainly crude oil exploitation and processing). Therefore, the UAE is almost entirely dependent on external supplies to meet domestic demand for agricultural products, seafood, processed foods, textiles, footwear, machinery, equipment, tools, spare parts, phones, electronic products, etc. Meanwhile, these are Vietnam's strengths.
On the other hand, the UAE has many strengths in the energy sector thanks to its large oil and gas reserves, a developed oil and gas exploitation and processing industry, and an important position and role in the world energy sector. If signed, the CEPA will be the legal basis for the two countries to strengthen cooperation in the field of oil and gas exploration and exploitation, exchange technical expertise, and train high-quality human resources in this important field.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan said that the UAE is located at the gateway of trade between three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa and is one of the world's commercial and financial centers. Thanks to its open policies and favorable business environment, the UAE is becoming an important international transit market via sea and air routes.
Therefore, according to Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan, along with its role as an important export market for Vietnam in the Middle East and its strategic position as a leading re-export center in the region, the UAE will act as a transit station for goods, helping bring Vietnam's export products to other markets in the Middle East and Africa./.
Trong Kien
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