VCCI Chairman: Hand in hand to cultivate the 'green tree of life' EVFTA

Delegates attending the Vietnam-European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) Workshop: What businesses need to know. (Photo: G.T)

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc said that since August 1, the EVFTA Agreement has officially come into effect and opened a promising new horizon in Vietnam-European Union (EU) relations. EVFTA is a passport that brings Vietnamese goods to the market full of trust and sustainable growth of the EU.

This is the most anticipated Agreement during the past months. The EU is a major import partner, with the world's second largest purchasing power and a key market for Vietnam's exports for many years. In Asia, Vietnam is one of the few countries with trade agreements with the EU (after South Korea, Japan and Singapore).

Therefore, EVFTA is a special import and export opportunity and advantage for Vietnamese goods. According to the research results of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the EVFTA Agreement is expected to help Vietnam's export turnover to the EU increase by about 42.7% in 2025 and 44.37% in 2030 compared to no Agreement. In terms of imports, it will increase by about 33.06% in 2025 and 36.7% in 2030.

EVFTA also creates an attraction for Vietnam in attracting investment from a leading FDI investment partner in the world, with the most advanced capital, technology and management today.

However, Mr. Vu Tien Loc noticed that most businesses still do not understand all commitments on tariffs, market opening for goods, rules of origin of goods, non-tariff measures, etc. Therefore, with the desire to help businesses minimize difficulties in the journey of learning commitments that directly affect business activities, VCCI has compiled a summary manual of the EVFTA Agreement - the first publication in Vietnam with detailed and complete instructions about the core commitments of EVFTA for businesses.

"Business is the most important factor contributing to the success of EVFTA. Therefore, with the great benefits that EVFTA brings, relevant state agencies and businesses should join hands to cultivate and reap the sweet fruits from EVFTA's 'green tree'", The Chairman of VCCI emphasized.

At the workshop, FNF Director in Vietnam Prof. TS. Andreas Stoffers also expressed his belief that, with the efforts and efforts of relevant agencies and organizations and businesses on both sides, EVFTA will be a success story and become an ideal model for countries in the region.

Director of the Center for WTO and Integration (VCCI) Nguyen Thi Thu Trang informed that the EVFTA has officially taken effect for nearly 2 months, and a number of businesses have enjoyed the first benefits from this Agreement.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in just the first month of EVFTA, authorized organizations have issued more than 7,200 sets of certificates of origin (C/O) form EUR.1 with a turnover of 277 million USD to EU countries. In particular, many shipments have arrived at the EU market, cleared customs and enjoyed incentives.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also said that Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery exports have also begun to prosper thanks to EVFTA. Seafood orders to the EU in August increased by 10% in turnover compared to July. The price of Vietnam's rice products also improved after the EVFTA came into effect, with an increase of 80-200 USD/ton compared to the end of July and the first 126 tons of fragrant rice were exported to the EU with a 0% tariff rate on September 22.

Experts attending the workshop all said that the initial results of the EVFTA are relatively positive, especially in the context that the market still has many difficulties due to the Covid-19 epidemic and the Agreement is still very new to businesses. Accordingly, in order to take advantage of the great opportunities that this historic agreement brings, businesses need to actively learn about EVFTA to have accurate and complete understandings of EVFTA commitments, From there, act to prepare and take advantage of commitments appropriately.