It was heard at a conference in Hanoi on December 20. The conference organized by the Ministry and Industry and Trade and the European Trade Policy and Investment Support Project (EU-MUTRAP) with aims of providing information on industrial sectors which have potential for investors, as well as the expected investment trends of European businesses once the EVFTA takes effect.
In his speech at the conference, Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Tran Quoc Khanh said that the EU is one of Vietnam’s most important trade partners, and will be more so once the EVFTA which is scheduled to be signed in 2017, takes effect in 2018. The trade agreement is expected to create a momentum to promote investment and trade between the two countries, Mr.Tran Quoc Khanh underlined.
He said the agreement ensures benefits for both Vietnam and EU. The pact facilitates trade, services and investment, as well as new approaches to protectionism and investment disputes.
After the agreement takes effect, the bilateral trade between Vietnam and the EU is forecasted to increase by around 50 percent in the first years, and nearly 40 percent of European firms in Vietnamis expected to increase their investment in the upcoming years. The EVFTA is expected to be an important momentum for trade promotion between Vietnam and the EU, especially for key Vietnamese products, such as garment and textile, shoes, agricultural products and for European goods such as equipment, auto and alcohol.
The EVFTA is considered the top commitment which Vietnam has reached in FTAs so far, according to the Deputy Minister.
According to Mr.Bui Huy Son, Director of Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the EU has 1,089 projects with a total registered capital of 23.16 billion USD, accounting for 8 percent of the total registered capital in Vietnam. EU investors are particularly interested in manufacturing, real estate trading and electricity distribution, he added.
When the EVFTA takes effect, the agreement will generate an investment trend from the E.U to Vietnam with new technologies and transfer in areas which the country has committed to open, such as garment and textile, leather shoes and wood production, Mr.Bui Huy Son said.
He also noted that domestic enterprises need to carefully prepare, in co-operation with foreign investors, to welcome investment inflows, absorb new technologies and management skills. Vietnamese companies could be trusted partners of foreign firms, especially from the E.U.