Trade and investment relations between the EU and Vietnam have developed in a fairly stable manner in recent years. Vietnam is becoming an important EU trading partner, while the EU is Vietnam’s largest bilateral trade partner following China.

Statistics showed that the EU surpassed the US to become Vietnam’s largest export market in 2012. Vietnam’s export surplus with the EU reached 13 billion euro. Trade between Vietnam and EU member countries exceeded US$25.8 billion in the first nine months of this year, a 20.8 percent increase from a year ago, including more than US$17.8 billion worth of Vietnamese exports, a 25.1 percent increase, and almost US$7 billion worth of Vietnamese imports, an 11.1 percent increase. Apart from farm products, Vietnam sells leather footwear, textiles and garments to the EU, while importing machinery, electronic equipment, vehicles and means of transport from this market. Vu Huy Hoang expected that Vietnam-EU trade would increase to US$32-33 billion by the end of the year.

Twenty-three of the 28 EU member countries have invested in Vietnam via more than 1,800 ongoing projects with total registered capital of more than US$32.8 billion, of which US$13.101 billion has been disbursed. Vu Huy Hoang said that many EU foreign direct investment (FDI) projects were successful in Vietnam offering a full array of products under established brand names which have become popular in Vietnam.

Antonio Tajani said that Vietnam was the first destination during his business trip to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries as it considered the country as an important partner in Southeast Asia. He also said that EU businesses were looking to expand opportunities to invest in Vietnam because they realized that the Vietnamese market had potential for the manufacturing sector, had grown rapidly and was a gateway for them to enter the large ASEAN market. EU businesses wanted to establish joint ventures with Vietnamese partners in the food and foodstuff industry.

Antonio Tajani said that they met very successful businesses in Vietnam within the framework of the visit. He affirmed the EC’s determination to further develop economic, trade, industrial and investment ties with Vietnam./.

Source: Vietnam economic news