The main exports during this time were audio equipment, coffee, footwear, timber furniture and plastics.— Photo sgtt

HCM CITY (Biz Hub)— Bilateral trade turnover between Viet Nam and the UK rose 25 per cent for the first eight months of the year to US$3.4 billion, according to the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK.

Of the total, the embassy said that Vietnamese export value to the UK stood at $3.12 billion, increasing by 28 per cent over the same period last year.

The main exports during this time were audio equipment, coffee, footwear, timber furniture and plastics.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam spent $296 million to import wheat, steel, salmon, pharmaceuticals and vehicles from the UK. This value declined by 2 per cent year-on-year.

The embassy predicted that trade value between the two countries would jump to $5.12 billion in 2013, 17 per cent higher than that of last year.

Nguyen Thi Hong Thuy, Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor in UK, said that despite many difficulties caused by the global recession, trade between the two countries had grown at an average of more than 30 per cent per year.

However, she said, the result was modest compared with the total trade turnover of each country.

This shows that Vietnamese products in UK were less competitive than those from China, Thailand and India, she said, explaining that distance and different business methods had complicated trade activities. — VNS