Expectations and hopes are being put on EVFTA

The provisions on improving the business environment have made significant progresses. Photo: H.Diu.

On March 2nd, in Hanoi, EuroCham published the White Book 2017, this is the publication to sum up views of the Eurocham member companies on issues of the Vietnamese business environment such as: foreign investment, business management, green growth, intellectual property, public-private partnerships, tax, and transportation – logistics. Especially, in the 9th edition of the White Book in Vietnam, Eurocham dedicated a chapter to mention the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam (EVFTA).

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Vu Tien Loc, the Chairman of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam (VCCI) said that the trend of trade liberalization was being challenged, so, Vietnam should have much more determination and essential action. Although the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP) has an uncertain future after the United States announced its withdrawal, the Member States do not want to waste six years of negotiations, so TPP will certainly continue under one form or some another, it is the time for realizing TPP will certainly be repealed in comparison with its expectations for 2018.

Therefore, Mr. Vu Tien Loc said that current expectations and hopes were concentrating on EVFTA. Although because of various reasons, EVFTA lost a step because there are many difficulties from some European countries, so the business community and competent authorities should focus effort to promote signing and realize some institutional commitments.

The White Book 2017 assessed that the close relationship between the EU and Vietnam was expressed through the prospect trade and investment data. In 2015, the EU was the 3rd largest investor in Vietnam with total capital of the foreign direct investment (FDI) committed to reach $US 1.3 billion. Among the foreign investors, the EU is increasingly becoming an important source of FDI in Vietnam, by the end of December 2015, the EU committed to invest $US 23.2 billion in 1,730 projects...

The EU’s strong commitments on supporting Vietnam in the process of modernization and integration into the world economy are also evident through the EU’s aid program. According to the plan of Vietnamese economic - social development until 2020, the EU’s aid through the program on multi-year support orientation for Vietnam in the period 2014 to 2020 has been increased by 30% and reached 400 million Euro, including the central goal to develop clean energy in Vietnam.

Besides, the White Book 2017 also indicated the existence of issues which needed to be improved further, such as: the licensing process for projects with foreign investment have remained ambiguous, and administrative procedures still face many obstacles…