At the signing ceremony for EVFTA (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement(EVFTA) and the EU – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) wereofficially signed in Hanoi on June 30 afternoon, in the witness of PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vietnamese National Assembly and Government leaders,and leaders of the European Union (EU).
The EVFTA was inked by Minister of Industry and Trade TranTuan Anh and European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom, and the EVIPA, betweenMinister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and an EU leading official.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, PM Phuc said that at theG20 summit in Japan on June 29, he had an important meeting with President ofthe European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker who stressed that June 30, 2019, isa special day of historical significance in the Vietnam – EU relations.
The signing of the two important agreements has opened up anew horizon for a larger and more comprehensive cooperation and strongerdevelopment of Vietnam and the EU, the Government leader said, thanking EUleading officials for their support.
The EU, with its Look East vision, has taken Vietnam as apartner, PM Phuc stressed, adding that as a country with rich potential for dynamicdevelopment of the top level in Southeast Asia which is implementing itsforeign policy of multilateralisation and diversification of relations andhaving a strong vision for intensive and extensive international integration,Vietnam is very happy to cooperate with the EU.
The PM said the EVFTA and the EVIPA will lift bilateral tiesto a greater strategic height, especially amid rising protectionism andnon-traditional security challenges.
He thanked the EU member states for supporting Vietnam’s runfor a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council for the 2020 –2021 tenure, adding that Vietnam commits to working closely with the EU onglobal issues and at the UN.
The leader expressed his belief that the EuropeanParliament, parliaments of EU member nations, and the Vietnamese NationalAssembly will soon ratify the EVFTA and EVIPA.
Vietnam will soon issue a national action programme torealise the deals with special measures, he said.
According to him, with the new pacts, EU enterprises will beable to access not only the 100-million Vietnamese market, but also markets in theASEAN, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-PacificPartnership (CPTPP) and East Asia, thus creating a driving force for East –West cooperation.
At the signing ceremony, Minister of Industry and Trade TranTuan Anh said the signing of the two agreements will further enhance bilateralties and bring benefits to both sides, marking a new beginning for a new journeyahead.
He added that more needs to be done to effectively realisethe deals and benefit business communities and peoples.
The EVFTA is considered a comprehensive, high-qualityagreement that ensures balanced benefits for both Vietnam and the EU. At thesame time, the agreement complies with the provisions of the World TradeOrganisation (WTO).
The pact has 17 chapters, two protocols and several Memoranda of Understanding,covering trade in goods, principles on goods’ origin, facilitation of trade andcustoms procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, technicalbarriers to trade (TBT), trade in services, investment, trade defence,competitiveness, state-owned enterprises, Government purchase, intellectualproperty, trade and sustainable development, and legal and institutionalissues.
Right after the deal takes effect, more than 85.6percent of tariff lines imposed on Vietnamese products, equivalent to 70.3percent of Vietnam’s export turnover to the EU, will be removed. After sevenyears from the entry into force of the agreement, the EU will abolish 99.2percent of tariff lines, or 99.7 percent of Vietnam’s export turnover. For theremaining 0.3 percent of shipments, the EU pledged to provide Vietnam withtariff quota of 0 percent.
The level of commitment in the EVFTA is the highest that a partner has madeunder any FTA Vietnam has signed. It has significant meaning especially as theEU has been one of the two largest export markets of Vietnam for many years.
Regarding the EU’s exports, Vietnam commits to remove 48.5 percent of importtariff on goods from the EU, or 64.5 percent of the bloc’s export turnover,immediately after the deal takes effect. The figure will be increased to 91.8percent seven years later. For the remaining EU exports, Vietnam will apply atariff elimination roadmap for longer than 10 years or apply the WTO’s dutyquota.
Under the EVIPA, both sides pledged national treatment and most favoured nationtreatment to investors of the other side, as well as fair and satisfactorytreatment, safe and full protection. Both sides will allow the free movement ofcapital and profit abroad, pledging not to expropriate or nationaliseinvestors’ assets without appropriate compensation. Furthermore, they pledge tocompensate the losses of the other side’s investors in the same way as domesticinvestors or the third-party investors as a result of war and riots.
On the occasion of the signing of the two important agreements, the VietnamNews Agency organised a photo exhibition on the negotiation process of the twopacts.-VNA
The EVFTA was inked by Minister of Industry and Trade TranTuan Anh and European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom, and the EVIPA, betweenMinister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and an EU leading official.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, PM Phuc said that at theG20 summit in Japan on June 29, he had an important meeting with President ofthe European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker who stressed that June 30, 2019, isa special day of historical significance in the Vietnam – EU relations.
The signing of the two important agreements has opened up anew horizon for a larger and more comprehensive cooperation and strongerdevelopment of Vietnam and the EU, the Government leader said, thanking EUleading officials for their support.
The EU, with its Look East vision, has taken Vietnam as apartner, PM Phuc stressed, adding that as a country with rich potential for dynamicdevelopment of the top level in Southeast Asia which is implementing itsforeign policy of multilateralisation and diversification of relations andhaving a strong vision for intensive and extensive international integration,Vietnam is very happy to cooperate with the EU.
The PM said the EVFTA and the EVIPA will lift bilateral tiesto a greater strategic height, especially amid rising protectionism andnon-traditional security challenges.
He thanked the EU member states for supporting Vietnam’s runfor a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council for the 2020 –2021 tenure, adding that Vietnam commits to working closely with the EU onglobal issues and at the UN.
The leader expressed his belief that the EuropeanParliament, parliaments of EU member nations, and the Vietnamese NationalAssembly will soon ratify the EVFTA and EVIPA.
Vietnam will soon issue a national action programme torealise the deals with special measures, he said.
According to him, with the new pacts, EU enterprises will beable to access not only the 100-million Vietnamese market, but also markets in theASEAN, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-PacificPartnership (CPTPP) and East Asia, thus creating a driving force for East –West cooperation.
At the signing ceremony, Minister of Industry and Trade TranTuan Anh said the signing of the two agreements will further enhance bilateralties and bring benefits to both sides, marking a new beginning for a new journeyahead.
He added that more needs to be done to effectively realisethe deals and benefit business communities and peoples.
The EVFTA is considered a comprehensive, high-qualityagreement that ensures balanced benefits for both Vietnam and the EU. At thesame time, the agreement complies with the provisions of the World TradeOrganisation (WTO).
The pact has 17 chapters, two protocols and several Memoranda of Understanding,covering trade in goods, principles on goods’ origin, facilitation of trade andcustoms procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, technicalbarriers to trade (TBT), trade in services, investment, trade defence,competitiveness, state-owned enterprises, Government purchase, intellectualproperty, trade and sustainable development, and legal and institutionalissues.
Right after the deal takes effect, more than 85.6percent of tariff lines imposed on Vietnamese products, equivalent to 70.3percent of Vietnam’s export turnover to the EU, will be removed. After sevenyears from the entry into force of the agreement, the EU will abolish 99.2percent of tariff lines, or 99.7 percent of Vietnam’s export turnover. For theremaining 0.3 percent of shipments, the EU pledged to provide Vietnam withtariff quota of 0 percent.
The level of commitment in the EVFTA is the highest that a partner has madeunder any FTA Vietnam has signed. It has significant meaning especially as theEU has been one of the two largest export markets of Vietnam for many years.
Regarding the EU’s exports, Vietnam commits to remove 48.5 percent of importtariff on goods from the EU, or 64.5 percent of the bloc’s export turnover,immediately after the deal takes effect. The figure will be increased to 91.8percent seven years later. For the remaining EU exports, Vietnam will apply atariff elimination roadmap for longer than 10 years or apply the WTO’s dutyquota.
Under the EVIPA, both sides pledged national treatment and most favoured nationtreatment to investors of the other side, as well as fair and satisfactorytreatment, safe and full protection. Both sides will allow the free movement ofcapital and profit abroad, pledging not to expropriate or nationaliseinvestors’ assets without appropriate compensation. Furthermore, they pledge tocompensate the losses of the other side’s investors in the same way as domesticinvestors or the third-party investors as a result of war and riots.
On the occasion of the signing of the two important agreements, the VietnamNews Agency organised a photo exhibition on the negotiation process of the twopacts.-VNA
VNA
