HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Bilateral trade betweenVietnam and Australia is poised to grow thanks to lower tariffs under freetrade agreements, according to Vo Tan Thanh, Vice Chairman of the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Speaking at a conference on Vietnam-Australiarelations on June 5, Thanh said that Australia would remove 90 percent of itsimport tariffs from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and NewZealand within 2018, and the remaining 10 percent in 2020, in accordance withthe ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.

In addition, the upcoming Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) would help promote tradebetween Vietnam and Australia.

Thanh said that the two countries have had aclose business partnership for 45 years and have seen great developments intrade, investment and tourism.

Australia is Vietnam’s eighth biggest tradepartner and has invested around 400 projects valued at 1.8 billion USD into thecountry, ranking 19th among 126 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.Vietnamese companies are also investing in several projects in Australia.

Thanh is confident that Australia will rise tobe one of the top 10 countries investing in Vietnam in the future.

Australia is one of Vietnam’s biggest official developmentassistance (ODA) providers, pouring around 150 million USD into Vietnamannually.

However, according to Le Thanh Tung, Director ofTien Thinh International Migration and Investment Consulting, while Vietnamis Australia’s 15th largest import market, Vietnam’s export value to Australiaonly accounts for 1.7 percent of Australia’s total import turnover. 

There would be more opportunity for Vietnamesecompanies to increase their export volume to Australia, with the help of marketresearch and counselling, he said.

However, he added that Australia had toughrequirements for the goods it imports, so Vietnamese firms must ensure thattheir goods meet Australian requirements.

Gary Dawes, senior trade advisor from AustradeTradeStart and New South Wales Business Chamber, said that exporting Vietnamesegoods to Australia could be a good way for Vietnam to enter other foreignmarkets as Australia is the 5th most developed economy in theAsia-Pacific region and also exports to other markets such as New Zealand and theUS.

He also advised Vietnamese firms beforeinvesting to carefully research Australia’s demands and make sure they standout from competitors.

In 2017, bilateral trade was at 6.5 billion USD.Vietnam exported 3.3 billion USD worth of goods to Australia.-VNA