A research on one-year implementation of the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was launched at a workshop in Hanoi on November 3 (Photo: VNA) The research, entitled “One Year Implementation of EVFTA:Impacts on the Vietnamese Economy and Policy Formation", was implementedby the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) with supportof Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) Vietnam.
Signed after 10 years of negotiation, the EVFTA has becomeeffective since August 2020 in a special context when the world was struggling againstCOVID-19 pandemic.
With strong commitments on the opening of market, the dealis expected to become a motivation for the economic growth of Vietnam, helping diversifymarket and promote trade, especially on strong products of Vietnam such asagro-fisheries products.
However, along with bright spots during one year of the implementation of the agreement, in general, Vietnamese firms have still facedmany difficulties in making full use of the deal.
Addressing the event, Associate Prof. Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu,VEPR Director, said that one year after the EVFTA took effect, Vietnam’s traderevenue from the EU market reached 39.8 billion USD as recorded by July 31,2021, up 6.2 percent year on year.
Thu noted that the legal system of Vietnam is being changedpositively to meet requirements of the deal.
However, Thu held that Vietnam is facing many challengesfrom both inside and outside. She advised businesses to be more active toimprove their capacity and products’ quality to deeper engage in the globalsupply chain.
Meanwhile, Pham Van Long, a representative from the researchteam said that among eight businesses involving in the research, only two saidthat they saw rise in export revenue from the EU thanks to a rise in order, andthe remaining said that they suffered reduction.
He said that the reasons behind the situation was tighterexport conditions and higher logistics cost due to impacts of COVID-19.
In general, the EVFTA is one of the new generation FTAs thatbrings about strategic benefit to Vietnam through the development of thepromising trade and investment partnership with one of the biggest and mostimportant partner of Vietnam.
Due to COVID-19 impacts, the effectiveness of the deal asremarkably restricted. One year since the deal become effective on August 1,2020, export value of goods might reach 51.04 billion USD, up 12.27 percent incase of no COVID-19 and no tariff reduction, and 36.28 percent compared to thesame period in the previous year.
Participants at the event proposed a number ofrecommendations on the reform of administrative procedure to make morefavourable conditions for businesses in taking advantages from the EVFTA./.
VNA
