Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has just finished the legal review process to officially signed and ratified.
Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has just finished the legal review process to officially signed and ratified.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on June 26, the legal review was agreed at a meeting between Vietnamese Trade and Industry Minister, Mr Tran Tuan Anh and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström on June 25, 2018 in Brussels, Belgium.
EVFTA was finished negotiations on December 2, 2015. The two sides move to next step reviewing the legal process to prepare for the signing. However, there have been changes in the process of ratification of EU free trade agreements. Specifically, under the new regulations, similar to the case of Japan and Singapore, the EU has proposed to separate the investment protection and dispute resolution mechanism between the state and investors (ISDS ) from EVFTA into a separate agreement (called the IPA).
EVFTA and IPA have been launched and ended in the context of a well-developed bilateral relationship between Vietnam and EU, especially in the area of trade and commerce.
EU is now the third largest trading partner and one of the two largest export markets for Vietnam. Two-way trade turnover has increased more than 12 times, from US$4.1 billion in 2000 to US$50.4 billion in 2017. EU investors are present in most of Vietnam's key economic sectors, with a focus on industry, construction and some service sectors.
