The advice was made by Miriam Garcia Ferrer, Head of the Trade and Economic Section of the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam, at a Vietnam-EU Trade Forum on the EVFTA, which was jointly held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the delegation in Ho Chi Minh City on July 30.

Overview of Vietnam-EU Trade Forum.

She suggested businesses obtain a thorough grasp of market information, rules of origin and regulations of the EU to carry out long-term strategies so as to gain a firm foothold in the market.

Jean-Jacques Bouflet, Vice Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Eurocham), said that with the EVFTA and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), investment flows from the EU will shift to Vietnam, with the focus on clean energy, agriculture and food production.

He cited a survey of the German Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam as saying that 55 percent of German enterprises operating in the Southeast Asian nation are planning to expand their operation.

The official stressed that European enterprises want to boost the building of production chains with local ones, thus bringing about more cooperation opportunities for local ones to participate in value chains.

To bring into full play these opportunities, Vietnamese enterprises should actively renew their production and management methods to reach standards and development trends of European partners, he suggested.

Speaking at the forum, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong said that two-way trade increased by 13folds from 4.1 billion USD in 2000 to 55.8 billion USD in 2018, of which 41.9 billion USD came from Vietnam’s exports.

As of late June 2019, 27 European countries and territories invested in Vietnam with 3,205 projects totaling 53.1 billion USD.

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EVFTA’s tariff reduction roadmap

  

EVFTA implementation roadmap

  

EVFTA to help improve Vietnam’s competitiveness

The European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), once taking effect, will help increase the competitiveness of Vietnam as well local enterprises and commodities, said Pham Tat Thang, a senior researcher at the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade Research Institute.

EVFTA to help Vietnam, Czech Republic boost economic ties

Czech experts have shared their views that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will bring about great opportunities for Vietnam and the Czech Republic to expand their economic and trade ties. 

Source: VNA