Vietnam-Australia bilateral trade hits record high of US$15.7 billion

Most notably, export turnover from the country to Australia saw a marked improvement, reaching US$5.55 billion, up 26.18%, whilst imports hit US$10.14 billion, up 27.31% on-year.

Statistically, many key Vietnamese export products continued to record high growth amid facing many challenges.

On the other hand, Australia continues to represent an important source of raw materials for domestic production such as coal, cotton, ores and other minerals, as well as wheat.

These goods accounted for approximately 80% of imports from Australia, with the import proportion reaching 30% to 70% of total Vietnamese imports from other countries, depending on different items.

Upon assessing the trade relationship between the two countries, Nguyen Phu Hoa, head of the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia, said that the industry structure of both sides can be considered complementary to each other, thereby helping the two economies enhance their own advantages instead of being in competition.

Overall, the past year has seen bilateral trade goals achieved quickly under the direction of the two countries' senior leaders. As a result, the nation has developed into Australia's 10th largest trading partner for the first time, while Australia is currently the seventh largest Vietnamese trading partner.

Economic experts have therefore highlighted the huge potential to boost trade growth, noting that taking advantage of signed free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) can continue to open up fresh opportunities to build links between the two countries across many new fields.

In December, 2021, the two nations signed a strategy aimed at strengthening economic ties and issued a roadmap aimed at promoting trade and investment relations between the two countries in the first 2021 to 2025 period.

The common goal of the strategy is to lift the two countries into each other's top 10 trading partners and to double investment in each nation. This represents a premise aimed at creating favourable conditions for businesses seeking to expand co-operation.

Upon speaking at the event "Vietnam - Australia Business connect" organised by the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia, Graham Kinder, vice chairman of the Australia - Vietnam Business Council, said that Australian businesses realise there are plenty of investment opportunities across multiple fields in the Vietnamese market. This includes trade, investment, development, education, tourism, and transportation.

These areas are inherently Australia's strengths, meaning Australian firms operating in these sectors are constantly seeking to expand their investment in Vietnam.

Moreover, Kinder believes that Vietnamese businesses can also effectively utilise investment co-operation opportunities across all regions, states, and localities of Australia in a bid to expand business activities and investments that the country has advantages in.

Chu Hoang Long, lecturer at the Australian National University (ANU), recommended that in order to make good use of co-operation opportunities, Vietnamese and Australian management agencies and businesses need to clearly identify their strengths and comparative advantages. In addition, they must carefully study the legal system, customs, regulations, and standards of goods and services, whilst seeking to improve local knowledge and understand the capacity of partners.

With regard to the Vietnamese side, it is necessary to enlist the support of Australia to improve the local investment and business environment, as well as the capacity building, thereby being ready and proactive to receive technology transfer. This is along with efforts to upgrade value chains in both governance and technology to quickly connect with Australian value chains and reach out to the global value chain.

Hoa shared that in the past, the Trade Office has strictly implemented the Vietnamese Government’s policy relating to economic relations with Australia, actively putting into practice directions put forth by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam representative agency in Australia.

Entering 2023, the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia plans to continue carrying out promotional schemes according to the action plan set out in relation to industries with large turnover, following the direction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on expanding imports and exports of Vietnamese products.

Furthermore, the digital economy will also be promoted by the Trade Office, especially with agricultural products. In particular, many new Vietnamese products show growth potential in the Asia-Pacific market, such as frozen fruits, including jackfruit, passion fruit, durian, and some spices.