EU Ambassador to Vietnam Bruno Angelet
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As Vietnam and the EU have concluded negotiations on the bilateral free trade agreement, and are reviewing legal documents and translating the contents of the pact, the EU and Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade will push ahead with technical cooperation in the coming time to complete the aforesaid tasks, he noted.
The diplomat said he hopes the signing of the bilateral FTA will take place next year so that it could be implemented in early 2018 as scheduled.
The EU is ranking third among countries and territories investing in Vietnam, while Vietnam is leading ASEAN in exporting to the EU, he said, pledging that he will do his utmost to call for more investment in the Southeast Asian country.
The EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA) will create a boost for trade and investment between the two sides. Statistics from the ministry showed that Vietnam’s exports to the EU in 2015 were valued at 31 billion USD, while its import value was over 10 billion USD.
EU enterprises are running 1,809 projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of 23.16 billion USD. Vietnam’s export value to the EU accounts for only 0.75 percent of the bloc’s total import value.
Both Vietnam and the EU agreed to make efforts to complete the ratification to make the agreement effective in 2018. Vietnam and the EU concluded 2.5-years of negotiations on their FTA in Brussels in August last year.
The agreement is expected to increase Vietnam’s exports to the EU by 4 percent, and EU’s export to Vietnam by more than 3 percent each year. The EU is one of the top trade partners of Vietnam.
