Of the total, Vietnam posted export revenue at US$5.061 billion, up 16.9% and an import revenue at US$5.062 billion, up 15.1% over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
The General Department of Vietnam Customs reported that the total import-export revenue between Vietnam and Japan reached US$29.6 billion in 2016, an increase of 4% over 2015.
Of which, Vietnam exported US$14.6 billion worth of goods to Japan, a rise of 3.9% compared to 2015 and imported US$15 billion worth of goods from Japan, a rise of 4.7% over 2015.
Vietnam now has two large free trade agreements with Japan including the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP) effective since 2010 and the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA) effective since 2009.
Under the two agreements, the two sides pledged to cut thousands of tax lines by 2025 to facilitate and promote bilateral import and export activities.
The MoIT said that Vietnam only takes advantage of 35% of incentives offered by AJCEP and VJEPA which is a result of the strict regulations on certificate of origin of goods, particularly the regulations on the origin of garment and textile products.
However, some types of commodities make good use of preferential treatment in the two agreement including vegetables and fruits (80.4%), seafood (66.7%), plastic and plastic products (85%), and footwear (81.8%).
MoIT Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai said that despite not making full use of advantages facilitated by agreement incentives, Japan is still the most favourable market in terms of origin verification of Vietnamese goods to offer preferential tariffs.
