Businesses updated on Vietnam-Cuba Trade Agreement
Businesses updated on Vietnam-Cuba Trade Agreement
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) held a seminar in Hanoi on December 18 to provide businesses with an insight into the Vietnam-Cuba Trade Agreement, the Latin American country’s first deal with an Asian partner.
The seminar on the Vietnam - Cuba Trade Agreement in Hanoi on December 18 - Photo: VNA
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The seminar was to help local businesses learn of the commitments in the agreement and the challenges and opportunities in boosting exports to Cuba.
The Vietnam-Cuba Trade Agreement was signed in Hanoi on November 9, 2018 and came into force on April 1, 2020.
It consists of 14 chapters with regulations on trade in goods, rules of origin, customs management, trade facilitation, trade remedies, technical standards, conformity assessment procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and economic and trade cooperation.
The two sides commit to eliminating or reducing tariffs on nearly 100 percent of imports within five years.
The agreement is expected to generate benefits for both business circles so as to lift bilateral trade to new heights.
Trade between the two countries stood at 226.81 million USD in 2019, including 221.62 million USD in exports from Vietnam. The figure reached 102 million USD in the first 10 months of this year, with 100 million USD being Vietnamese shipments.
Rice, coffee, chemical products, apparel, and footwear are major exports, with the country primarily importing vaccines and pharmaceuticals from Cuba.
Vietnam has four investment projects worth tens of millions of USD licensed in Cuba, including two already operational and others still in preparation.
