The EU and UK have today reached a post-Brexit deal on trade and future cooperation, ending months of disagreements and intensive negotiations about issues ranging from fishing rights to future business rules. The agreement has been reached a week before the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December. The UK voted in a referendum in June 2016 to leave the EU, and it exited the EU in January 2020.

Le Tien Truong, General Director of Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) said that with the agreement between Vietnam and South Korea on the implementation of the provision of accumulation principle on the origin of fabric material in the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), garment products from Vietnam imported to the EU have a rate of meeting the rules of origin up to 50%.

While Britain and the EU struggle to come to terms, 15 Asia-Pacific countries quietly signed the biggest free-trade deal in history. That’s a welcome development, says Simon Wilson

Vietnam is among the top five countries in the world in cost efficiency, according to ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions’ Total Workforce Index (TWI).

INDIA and Vietnam have signed seven agreements to boost cooperation in various fields including defence, renewable energy and petrochemicals.

The fisheries sector is anticipated to face numerous challenges in 2021 due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic globally, whilst working relentlessly to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) in line with the European Council's (EC) recommendations to boost exports, according to insiders.

On 15 November 2020, 15 nations (the 10 ASEAN countries, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea) signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The clamour around India’s decision to walk away from the mega trade deal was loud.

Regarding the impact of the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) on goods exports as well as production and business activities of enterprises, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said the agreement would bring businesses more opportunities to export to the UK. The value of import tax that Vietnam can save when exporting goods to the UK is estimated at VND3,500 billion each year.

The Chinese economy is expected to usher in 2021 with stronger recovery after surviving a triple whammy of COVID-19, economic slowdown and trade protectionism in an eventful 2020.

The local business community anticipates that the Government will take specific and efficient measures aimed at immediately resolving bottlenecks that hinder their operations, said Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).