(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Free trade agreements (FTAs) that come into effect and put into effect in 2020 have created favorable conditions for our country's goods to be exported abroad in the past year. After falling continuously in the first half of the year due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, Vietnam's seafood exports started to recover from July. Especially, thanks to the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Effective from August 2020, seafood has continued to have double-digit growth since September.
Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said that the EU market has strongly recovered since September with an increase of 19-30%. Seafood export to the EU (excluding UK) in 2020 has reached 958 million USD. Although this number has decreased slightly compared to 2019, it is a relatively positive result in the year when the economy in general and exports in particular were heavily affected by Covid-19.
For markets of CPTPP countries, since the entry into force of the FTA, export turnover to CPTPP member markets has achieved good growth. In 2020, the export of seafood to the CPTPP member countries alone will reach over $2.21 billion, accounting for 26% of Vietnam's total seafood exports. In particular, exports to Canada increased 14% to 263 million USD, exports to Chile increased by 20% to 19 million USD. For Vietnamese seafood, these are the two most beneficial export markets among CPTPP member countries because they have not entered into any FTA with Vietnam before.
In 2020, Covid-19 has reduced exports to many markets, but seafood exports to the UK in 2020 still highly grew 23% with a turnover of 345 million USD. This will be a potential market for Vietnamese seafood in the coming years, after the fact that UK signed a free trade agreement with Vietnam in December 2020.
With an associated economic and trade area, linked to 17 free trade agreements and 3 remaining under negotiation ... Vietnam has plenty of room to increase seafood exports in the coming time.