Useful Tips from a Vietnamese Book to Enter the UK Market

The book was launched within the framework of the Vietnam – UK Business Forum 2023 taking place on November 24 in Hanoi.

In his welcoming remarks, Director General of the European-American Market Department Ta Hoang Linh (Ministry of Industry and Trade) emphasized that two-way trade between Vietnam and the UK reached a total import-export turnover in the first 10 months of 2023 reached US $5.87 billion, an increase of 1.6% over the same period in 2022.

The event is part of a series of events organized by the Joint Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation between the two countries (JETCO) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Ireland (1973-2023).

However, to seize the opportunity to bring Vietnamese products into the UK market and to fully understand the British business culture, local businesses need to be systematically equipped with a lot of knowledge and skills.

Dr. Nguyen Hoang Long, Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland said in the foreword of the newly published book “UK Market – Things You Need to Know” that, by reading this book, you will understand British business culture along with payment methods and commercial dispute resolution in the UK.

“You will also know who to ask and where to find useful information when needed,” said Dr. Nguyen Hoang Long.

The book “UK Market – Things You Need to Know” was published by the Trade Office of the Vietnam Embassy in the UK (Photo: Nhung Nguyen).

The book also provides recommendations and solutions for challenges that Vietnamese businesses are facing in terms of branding, earning partners’ trust, and information technology applications. Thereby, businesses can be aware of their position and opportunities in the process of penetrating one of the leading European markets.

Driving forces of the two-way trade

At the forum, Director General of the European-American Market Department Ta Hoang Linh recognized the free trade agreements as driving forces that currently promote Vietnam – UK trade exchange. One of them is the UK – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKFTA), which officially takes effect from May 1, 2021. Most recently, the UK officially signed an agreement to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP Agreement) on July 16, 2023.

“From the beginning of 2023 until now, Vietnam’s trade exchange with most key export markets in the European region has witnessed a decline due to geopolitical tensions and general difficulties of the economy. Still, two-way trade between Vietnam and the UK is one of the bright spots,” Director Ta Hoang Linh said.

Head of FTAs ​​Implementation, UK Ministry of Business and Trade David Johnstone also emphasized that, in addition to the obvious benefits in terms of tariffs, there are many additional attractive incentives compared to the bilateral agreement. With existing methods, CPTPP also creates great benefits for both countries in integrating deeper into each other’s supply chains, facilitating the business processes of both sides’ businesses. It helps create a great potential for sudden growth with the prospect of expanding the agreement in the future. Also, the two parties can directly participate in the process of establishing new rules and provisions of the agreement.

Many representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the UK Embassy in Vietnam, and corporations and businesses of the two countries attended the Forum in both face-to-face and online forms (Photo: Nhung Nguyen).

Also at the forum, cooperation in the energy sector was considered one of the fields with rich potential in bilateral trade between Vietnam and the UK. The implementation of the “Fair Energy Transition Partnership Agreement” (JETP) plays a fundamental role in the two countries to continue to effectively exchange knowledge and experiences in a practical way.