Border trade has a scale of goods exchange reaching tens of billions of USD.

This afternoon, April 14, the Trade Promotion Conference with the Vietnamese trade agency system took place in Lao Cai , following the general Trade Promotion Conference this morning.

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Agency, emphasized: Vietnam has a favorable geographical location and great development potential. With more than 5,000km of shared border with China, Laos and Cambodia, located in the center of Southeast Asia, Vietnam possesses many advantages and strategic conditions to expect to become a trading center in the region, becoming an important trade gateway between neighboring countries and countries in the Southeast Asian region in particular with developed economies in the world in general.

Thương mại biên giới có quy mô trao đổi hàng hóa đạt hàng chục tỷ USD

Director of the Trade Promotion Agency, Mr. Vu Ba Phu, spoke at the Trade Promotion Conference with the system of Vietnamese trade agencies.

To promote trade in goods and services across the land border, the Vietnamese Government has signed Border Trade Agreements with the Governments of China, Laos, and Cambodia and in turn signed other important agreements and arrangements on quarantine, goods quality, payment, etc.

Up to now, the scale of goods exchange through all border gates along the entire land border has reached tens of billions of USD each year, contributing significantly to the growth of bilateral trade, to the socio-economic development of border provinces and especially helping to greatly improve the material and spiritual life of people in border areas.

Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs in 2023, Vietnam's total import-export turnover through land border gates to the three markets of China, Laos and Cambodia reached 50.38 billion USD, an increase of 52.2% compared to 2022, accounting for 27.68% of the total bilateral import-export turnover with the three markets; import-export turnover through land border gates in the first two months of 2024 was 8.44 billion, an increase of 28.5% over the same period in 2023, accounting for 28.88% of the total bilateral import-export turnover with the three markets.

However, cross-border trade still faces many difficulties. Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Linh, Head of Trade Facilitation Department, Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said that the logistics system still has some problems such as difficulties in exploiting railways with China due to lack of synchronization in track gauge; steep river systems, many hidden rocks when exploiting transportation...

Besides, the number of agricultural products and fruits exported is also very limited compared to the potential of agricultural product and fruit production and processing in Vietnam.

View of the Trade Promotion Conference with the Vietnamese Trade Office System

Notably, most businesses operating in border trade do not prioritize choosing the official import-export form (buying and selling according to contracts, with clear transaction and delivery conditions, delivery at international border gates, main border gates, etc.).

In addition, the number of secondary border gates and openings have not been restored to operation since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to many difficulties in the exchange of goods between border residents and the trading needs of businesses on both sides.

"The conference with the Vietnam Trade Office System abroad was held to focus on exchanging and updating market information, opportunities for cross-border trade promotion as well as exchanging information and potential to promote border trade from representatives of localities with border gates with China, Laos, Cambodia and practical recommendations from the export promotion needs of localities and businesses across the border. From there, solutions to improve the efficiency of border trade activities were proposed," the representative of the Trade Promotion Department emphasized.

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