A workshop themed “ EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA): New opportunities” took place in Brussels, Belgium on September 14, aiming to propose ways to effectively implement the deal in order to bring the most benefits to both parties.
The event was co-chaired by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh and Mauro Petriccione, deputy director general at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Trade, and the EU’s chief negotiator for the EVFTA.
Addressing the workshop, Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium Vuong Thua Phong stressed that the EVFTA is a comprehensive and high-quality trade pact that ensures equal benefits to both Vietnam and the EU.
When it takes effect, the agreement will create a more favourable business climate for enterprises and investors of both sides, however it will also bring challenges to Vietnam’s firms and State management agencies, he noted.
Deputy Minister Khanh, who is also the head of Vietnam’s EVFTA negotiation delegation , highlighted Vietnam’s consistent policy of pursuing economic renovation and promoting administrative reform, towards becoming an attractive destination to foreign investors.
The workshop offered a chance to help people and business communities from EU member countries understand more about the EVFTA, and the importance played by the deal for the EU as well as Vietnam, said Mauro Petriccione.
The event was part of the second legal review session to strictly examine the whole contents of the EVFTA, aiming to ensure that words in the agreement accurately represent the contents negotiated by the two sides.
Vietnam and the EU planned to hold one or two more legal review sessions this year, with the aim of finishing the review before the end of 2016 and then translate the deal into Vietnamese and EU nations’ languages.
Once the EVFTA enters into force, the EU will eliminate about 85.6 percent of tax lines on Vietnam’s exports. The rate will increase to 99 percent seven years later.
Meanwhile, Vietnam will liberalise 65 percent of import duties on EU exports. In 10 years later, about 99.8 percent of EU goods exported to Vietnam will enjoy a zero percent tax rate.
Source: VNA