Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh

The minister co-chaired the international press conference with European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom after the signing ceremony for the EVFTA and the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) on Sunday. Minister Anh underlined how much the deal is significant to Vietnam: “In addition to other bilateral and multilateral agreements, EVFTA and IPA will create foundations for Vietnam to devise orientations and strategies in cooperation with the EU and in implementing Vietnam’s strategies for sustainable development, including sustainable exports. Particularly, the free trade agreement with the EU will create a strong impetus for growth in exports of Vietnam which could surge by 20 percent right in the first years after the deal comes into force and higher in the following years.”

Minister Anh said that as Vietnam’s economy is at lower level and smaller in size, it will face challenges in seizing opportunities brought by EVFTA. He called on domestic businesses to reorganize their strategies on penetrating markets and business operation to enhance thier competitiveness.

European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom

The European Commissioner for Trade Malmstrom said: “It will bring fantastic possibilities to continue the long partnership that we’ve already have, but to do it an easier way through the agreement that we’ve just signed. It will open up on both sides the markets when it comes to goods, services, and public procurement as the minister mentioned, so that they can take advantage of these opportunities. We’ve been trading with each other but with this I think trade is estimated to grow quite a lot.”

After being signed, the EVFTA and the IPA will come into force after the Vietnamese National Assembly and the European Parliament ratify it.

The EU is currently the third largest trade partner, and one of the two’s biggest export markets of Vietnam, with two-way trade hitting 50.4 billion USD in 2018.