Garments and textiles among Vietnam's major export commodities to Laos.
(Photo: baodautu.vn)
The figure surpassed 570 million USD in the period, a year-on-year rise of 25 percent. Exports hit over 280 million USD, up 23.6 percent.
In May alone, two-way trade hit 113 million USD, surging 56.7 percent against the same period last year. Import turnover reported growth of 83.8 percent.
Vietnam’s major exports included machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts in excess of 13.4 million USD; ceramics worth over 1 million USD; and garment-textile about 900,000 USD.
The country also shipped iron and steel products nearing 6.8 million USD and petrol and oil worth 1.9 million USD to its neighbour.
Meanwhile, Vietnam imported close to 10.3 million USD worth of timber and wooden products from Laos, along with ores and minerals, and rubber.
Trade Counsellor at the Embassy of Vietnam in Laos Le Thi Phuong Hoa said that the bilateral trade is projected to marginally rise next month as the countries are striving to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Exporters permitted to self-certify origin of goods less than 6,000 Euros
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has just issued Circular 02/2021/TT-BCT stipulating the rules of origin of goods in the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UKVFTA), effective from July 26, 2021.
Photo for illustration. (Source: chinhphu.vn)
The Circular includes 5 Chapters, 42 Articles and 08 attached Appendixes, specifically: Chapter I: General provisions; Chapter II: How to determine the origin of goods; Chapter III: Certification and inspection of origin of goods; Chapter IV: Special Provisions; and Chapter V: Terms of Implementation.
Accordingly, for commodities exported from Vietnam valued at less than 6,000 Euros, any exporter is permitted to self-certify origin.
For shipments valued at over 6,000 Euros, the C/O mechanism issued by agencies and organizations authorized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade will be applied. And only exporters that are eligible under regulations of the UK can self-certify their origin.
UKVFTA was officially signed in London, the UK, on December 29, 2020. The official signing of the UKVFTA will ensure uninterrupted bilateral trade between Vietnam and the UK after the end of the transition period when the UK left the European Union (EU) on December 31, 2020.
HCM city nominated as Asia’s leading MICE travel destination
Ho Chi Minh city has just been nominated as one of the eight candidates for the title “Asia’s leading MICE travel destination" within the framework of the World MICE Awards 2021.
Photo for illustration. (Source: thanhnien.vn)
Together with the southern hub of Vietnam, other candidates include Bangkok (Thailand), Beijing (China), Hong Kong (China), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Macau (China), Seoul (the Republic of Korea) and Singapore.
The World MICE Awards 2021 is part of a series of awards developed by the World Travel Awards, the world’s most prestigious of its kind.
First held in 2020, the awards aim to foster the growth and innovation of MICE tourism on a global scale by honoring organizations that lead in the field, with fairness and transparency in the rules and voting process. In 2020, Ho Chi Minh City won the title.
Votes will take place from June 9 to September 14, 2021. Results will be announced on November 1, 2021. To vote, please contact https://worldmiceawards.com.
MICE is a type of tourism combining meetings, exhibitions, events, and reward tourism of companies for employees and partners. MICE now brings a huge source of revenue to the tourism industry in many countries.
For Vietnam, this type of tourism has been exploited by companies in the tourism industry for many years, initially with positive results. Exploiting the MICE market is one of the goals of Vietnam’s tourism development strategy./.