Vietnam and Chile, both signatories of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), have vowed to boost trade ties to tap potential of the transnational and the bilateral agreements.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in a phone talk with Chile's President Sebastián Piñera. Photo: VGP

The commitment was made during a phone talk between Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the bilateral relations [March 25, 1971-2021].

The two leaders said that the two countries should enhance their traditional relations and comprehensive partnership in the time to come, mostly in exchanging high-ranking delegations and cooperation mechanisms, including the Vietnam-Chile Trade Agreement (VCFTA) that came into effect in January 2014.

Chile's exports to Vietnam. Source: Tradingeconomics

Regarding the bilateral trade deal, it only targets trade of goods and goods-related matters without commitments on services and investment.

VCFTA is the very first trade deal between Vietnam and Chile, entailing provisions on facilitating market access, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers, safeguards, among others.

Under the agreement, Vietnam commits to abandoning 87.8% of tariff rates for Chile in 15 years while Chile will eliminate tariff of goods for Vietnam within 10 years.

In 2019, Chile became Vietnam’s 4th largest partner in Latin America with two-way trade revenue of US$1.23 billion, up 12.95% on-year.

In a latest move, Vietnam opened its market to Chilean cherries in 2020.