Opportunities for goods of both countries

Sharing with reporters on the sidelines of the Conference "Disseminating the Trade Agreement, Vietnam - Laos Border Trade Agreement 2015" recently organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Laos in Hanoi, Mr. Le An Hai - Deputy Director of the Asia-Pacific Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) - said that in March 2015, Vietnam and Laos signed a bilateral Trade Agreement to replace the Agreement. 1998. Immediately after that, in June 2015, the two countries continued to sign the Border Trade Agreement, giving each other special incentives that do not apply to any other country.

When implementing the Vietnam - Laos Trade Agreement, many types of goods have access to special preferential tariff rates, reduced to 0% or 50% with over 95% of tax linestariffs compared to the tariffs of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA). Meanwhile, with the Vietnam - Laos Border Trade Agreement, businesses of the two countries will also enjoy separate incentives, such as: Value-added tax exemption and exemption from technical barrier measures for goods produced and raised by Vietnamese investors in Laos' border provinces when imported to Vietnam; create more favorable conditions for trade activities of businesses of the two countries in border areas...

"These two agreements open up import and export opportunities for many new types of goods; thereby, creating a stronger flow of goods from Vietnam to Laos" - Mr. Le An Hai emphasized.

Change in trade relations

Mr. Le An Hai added that the Vietnam - Laos Border Trade and Trade Agreement also helps shape the structure of bilateral trade and investment cooperation in the coming time. For example, in the Bilateral Trade Agreement integrating the previous preferential trade agreement signed in 2011 and renewed once a year, there is now a more stable mechanism. The Border Trade Agreement has incentives for investment in provinces bordering the two countries.

According to statistical data, in recent times, Vietnam - Laos trade turnover has continuously grown, especially in the period 2010 - 2014, reaching an average increase of 25.8%/year. However, recently, bilateral trade turnover growth has tended to decrease. In 2015, bilateral trade turnover reached 1,123 billion USD, down 12.6% compared to 1,285 billion USD in 2014. In the first 6 months of 2016, trade turnover between the two countries only reached 433.3 million USD, down 34.7% compared to the same period in 2015.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Hai said that it is not a concern because the trade relations between the two countries are adjusting from breadth to depth. Moreover, with the implementation of trade agreements, trade exchange between the two countries will have many positive changes. In addition, to contribute to promoting Vietnam - Laos bilateral trade relations, the two sides have proposed a number of solutions, including coordinating research and building a Vietnam - Laos trade development project for the next 10 years; quickly concretize and enhance the dissemination of important documents for bilateral trade relations signed between the two countries.

Source: Industry and Trade Electronic Newspaper