Head of the Vietnamese mission to the EU Vu Anh Quang (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The European Union – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement(EVFTA) and the EU – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) are ofsignificance to both Vietnam and the EU, head of the Vietnamese mission to theEU Vu Anh Quang has stated.
In his interviewgranted to the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the European Council’sJune 25 decision to entrust the European Commission to sign the two deals withVietnam in Hanoi on June 30, the diplomat said that they are the first new-generationtrade and investment deals that the EU has reached with a middle-incomecountry.
The deals, once signedand ratified, will bring about huge benefits to both sides, as their economicproducts do not compete, but complement each other.
With 99 percent oftariff lines to be removed, the EVFTA will create favourable conditions forVietnam’s goods to access the 512-million-consumer EU market.
Two-way trade hit 55billion USD in 2018 and will surely surge in the time ahead, Quang said, addingthat European enterprises will also intensify investment in Vietnam, especiallyin the fields the EU has strength such as high technology, clean energy,finance-banking, transportation and logistics, thus helping Vietnam in economicrestructuring and growth model shifting in an inclusive and sustainable manner.
Quang, who is alsoVietnamese Ambassador to Belgium, said that on June 25 last year, the two sideshad reached a high consensus on all contents of the two agreements.
In the past year,Vietnam has exerted efforts to canvass the EU to speed up internal proceduresof the deals. The canvass work has been conducted in not only Hanoi, but alsocapital cities of EU member states and at international conferences at alllevels.
As a result, the twodeals were adopted by the European Commission on October 17, 2018 and by all EUmember states at the council’s meeting on June 25, 2019.
Regarding theratification process, the diplomat stated that after the signing ceremony, bothsides will conduct procedures for their parliaments’ ratification.
For the Vietnameseside, relevant committees of the National Assembly will study and contributeideas to submit the two documents to the legislature for approval in line with theratification process of international treaties.
The ratificationprocess of the EU is more complicated. The EVFTA will become effective after itis ratified by the Vietnamese NA and the European Parliament, while the EVIPA willtake into effect after it is ratified by the Vietnamese NA and the EuropeanParliament, and the legislative bodies of 28 member states, Quang said.
He expressed his hopethat the European Parliament in the new tenure will soon stabilise itsorganisation and personnel to vote for the ratification of the two documents inlate 2019 or early 2020.-VNA
VNA
