Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife arrive in Vietnam for a visit in mid-January, 2017. (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam-Japan trade is expected to reach a new height in 2017 asthe two countries have agreed on many measures to boost the trade exchange, itwas agreed at a recent seminar on promoting trade with Japan held by theMinistry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
Vu Cuong, deputyhead of East Asia division of the Asia Pacific Market Department under theMoIT, said a series of visits made by leaders of the two countries in early2017 reflected the two sides’ resolve to boost ties.
Japanese PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe visited Vietnam in mid-January and Japanese Emperor isexpected to travel to Vietnam in mid-February, while Vietnamese leaders alsohave plans to visit Japan in March.
Besides good diplomaticrelationship, trade experts urged the business community to seize opportunitiesbrought about by the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA).
Cuong underlined the taxreduction roadmap stipulated in the VJEPA, under which import tax will be cutto 2.8 percent in 2018 and at least 86 percent of agri-forestry-seafoodproducts and 97 percent of Vietnamese industrial products will enjoypreferential tax rates in the Japanese market.
Meanwhile, average taxes on Japan’sgoods imported into Vietnam will be reduced to seven percent in 2018.
Within 10 years, the twocountries will complete the roadmap for tax reduction to form a bilateral freetrade zone in which 94.53 percent of Vietnam’s export turnover and 87.6 percentof Japan’s will be exempted from import tax.
However, according to Le AnHai, deputy head of the MoIT’s Asia Pacific Market Department, Vietnameseenterprises have taken advantage of just 40 percent of opportunities offered bythe VJEPA.
Hai advised enterprises toinvest in quality of goods and boost promotion activities to tap the Japanesemarket.
Nguyen TrungDung, Vietnam’s commercial counsellor in Japan, said the structure ofVietnamese and Japanese goods are complementary and not competitive againsteach other.
Japan mainlyimports seafood, garments, footwear, and processed food while Vietnam importsmachineries, equipment, technology and materials for production from Japan.
According todata from theꦰ Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vietnam’s export to Japanin the first 11 months of 2016 was 13.3 billion USD, up 3.1 percent on a yearlybasis, making Japan Vietnam’s second largest export market behind the UnitedStates.-VNA
