Despite more than a year of global pandemic and heightened geopolitical tensions – leading to “unprecedented” being one of the words of the year – what is particularly noteworthy about our latest trade survey is how many issues haven’t changed.

As an increasing number of winemakers and grape growers in Australia urge the Morrison government to properly solve the anti-dumping tariff issue with China, Australia Trade Minister Dan Tehan told CNBC on Wednesday that Australia is considering whether it should get the World Trade Organization involved in.

A trade deal struck with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein with provisions for digital paperwork to cut down the time and costs of post-Brexit border bureaucracy has been championed by the international trade secretary, Liz Truss, as a “major boost”.

Politburo member, Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Tran Tuan Anh attended the 24th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2021 which is being held in Russia in both in-person and online forms.

Vietnam is keen to build upon friendly ties with Ethiopia, particularly in the fields of politics and socio-economic affairs as they try to continue co-ordination and offer mutual support at multi-lateral mechanisms, including the African Union (AU).

The EU-ASEAN Business Council has published two papers calling for more progress on ASEAN’s regional economic agenda and linking a durable recovery from the pandemic to the region’s leaders and trade and finance ministers adopting specific measures to accelerate work on the ASEAN Economic Community.

With borders closed and travel restricted since early last year, e-commerce has proved itself to be a game changer, setting the scene for Vietnamese exporters to gain broader access to foreign markets.

As many foreign enterprises have been looking for sources of supply from Vietnamese enterprises, export opportunities for domestic enterprises have increased. However, the supply chain disruption has led to a sharp increase in the prices of raw materials, causing various difficulties for enterprises.

China hailed on Thursday the resumption of "normal discussions" with the United States on the trade and economic fronts, apparently keen to move beyond a trade war as it said both sides aimed to resolve issues pragmatically.

Vietnam is now shipping its first two batches of fresh lychees to Australia - a promising export market for fresh Vietnamese lychees, according to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Australia.