Many growth opportunities thanks to EVFTA

​After 2 years of the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) taking effect, economic - trade relations have many bright spots in the picture of bilateral cooperation between Vietnam - EU with remarkable results.

Producing wood for export at an enterprise in Bien Hoa city

According to calculations from the General Department of Customs, in the second year of EVFTA implementation (from August 2021 to July 2022), the total import-export turnover reached USD 61.4 billion, an increase of 11.9% compared to the first year the agreement came into force, in which, exports reached USD 45 billion, up 17% and import reached USD 16.4 billion, up 0.2%.
The structure of exports to the EU also tends to expand and diversify, as not only key commodities have achieved impressive growth rates, such as machinery and equipment (up 34.8%), textiles and garments (41.2%), footwear (36.2%),... but the export turnover of many agricultural, forestry and fishery products is also increasing at a very high rate, notably coffee (up 54, 4%), seafood (up by nearly 42%), vegetables (18%), pepper (25%), rice (22.2%)…

In addition, Vietnam also increased imports of many products from the EU, such as pharmaceuticals (up 7.6%), chemicals (up 102%), wood and wood products, and animal feed (15.5%), milk and dairy products (up 29.1%), other food products (45.3%), and input materials for production.
According to experts, the tariff reduction incentives under the EVFTA also contribute significantly to helping Vietnam improve its competitiveness and expand market share in the EU, and at the same time have access to high quality EU goods.

 Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of Dong Nai Garment Corporation (Bien Hoa City) Bui The Kich said that currently, the EU is one of the company's main export markets, with good growth in export turnover. In particular, since the EVFTA came into effect, many tariff barriers have been exempted or reduced, opening up many market development opportunities for the company. Only in the first months of this year, the company's export turnover to the EU market increased by about 30%, higher than the average growth rate of previous years.

 Speaking online at the Vietnam - EU Trade Forum in 2022 with the topic Vietnam - EU working together to build a diversified and sustainable supply chain by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in collaboration with the EU Delegation to Vietnam and the EuroCham Association held at the end of September, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien especially noted the positive results in trade and investment exchanges between Vietnam and the EU after 2 years of EVFTA coming into effect despite the economic context, trade and supply chains have faced many difficulties in recent times

 “Currently, Vietnam is facing many advantages to carry out export activities and promote trade and investment with EU partners, when both Vietnam and the EU are accelerating post-pandemic recovery; actively resume economic and trade activities and initially take advantage of incentives from the EVFTA Agreement. The Vietnamese government is very interested in supporting market expansion and strengthening the comprehensive partnership with the EU as well as its member countries, creating a great premise to promote bilateral cooperation activities, not only limited to trade, but also extends to many other areas of economic cooperation" said Minister Nguyen Hong Dien.

EuroCham President Alain Cany said that this is an important time to further promote the economy and trade between the EU and Vietnam, contributing to the recovery and economic growth of both sides after the pandemic. European businesses want to take advantage of the advantages of the EVFTA to promote cooperation and expand investment as well as trade promotion activities in Vietnam more strongly, especially in areas with strengths of European enterprises, such as science and technology, development of green and renewable energy towards green and sustainable growth for businesses and the community.

Chairman of the Dong Nai Import-Export Association Nguyen Tien Chuong shared that after about two years of official entry into force, the EVFTA agreement has brought many opportunities for many domestic exporters in general and in Dong Nai in particular. In the current context of integration, businesses need to be more proactive in capturing information about FTAs in general and EVFTA in particular, thereby, there is a plan to approach potential markets, develop appropriate production plans and plans to create high-value products to meet the market's tastes, improve competitiveness.