The two-way trade value between Vietnam and France is estimated to reach nearly 1.6 billion euros (US$2.03 billion) in 2008, surpassing the target, according to Vietnam Trade Information Center under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) yesterday.

In 2008, Vietnam's exports to France are estimated to value over 1.2 billion euros (US$1.5 billion), far exceeding the target of this year, while Vietnam's imports are forecast to be more than 355 million euros (US$455 million), an increase of 20 percent compared to that of 2007, said the center.

Vietnam's major export items to France are footware, garments and textile, housewares, aquatic products and leather products. Main items imported from France include medicines, electronic products, mechanics, chemical substances and wheat flour.

Vietnam will face difficulty in exporting to France as the country's footware exported to France will no longer enjoy the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) from Jan. 1, 2009.

To tackle such difficulty, a range of measures have been mapped out by Vietnam's MIT, including intensifying trade promotion activities in France, calling for French partners to invest in the country's industry supporting the garment exports and providing assistance for Vietnamese exporters in negotiating, signing contracts and solving problems related with export procedures.