Viet Nam and the European Union (EU) are working to finalise legal and language – related issues in the EU-Viet Nam free trade agreement (EVFTA), prior to the official signing and ratification of the trade deal next year, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh.

At a workshop on the EVFTA held by the French Business Federation (MEDEF) and the Asia Centre in Paris on December 1, Khanh emphasised the common goal of the two sides to implement the agreement after it is inked, adding that the Vietnamese Government is outlining a specific plan for carrying out the agreement.

For his part, chief of the negotiation delegation of the EVFTA Raffaele Mauro Petriccione noted that the approval process for the agreement could take a long time, since the EU is a trade bloc with many members.

Participants to the workshop appreciated Viet Nam’s active foreign economic-trade policy and highlighted Viet Nam’s leading role in recent global events, especially the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum held in Da Nang.

According to Marie-Christine Pocin, a senior advisor from France’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, Viet Nam has a consistent policy of integrating its economy into international trade, and France has been developing various fields to promote poverty reduction.

Viet Nam plays a positive role in the process of regional economic integration, she stressed.

Nguyen Dinh Cung, director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), highlighted the importance of the EVFTA agreement in Viet Nam’s integration process.

The trade agreement brings great benefits to the country, as it is estimated it would generate an additional 2.5 per cent to Viet Nam’s GDP by 2020, and 4.6 per cent by 2025, he said.

The agreement is expected to help increase Viet Nam’s exports to the union, while creating new jobs for the Vietnamese labour force, especially for those working in rural and agricultural areas.

It would also make it easier for Viet Nam to import advanced technologies, which would help improve the country’s economic rankings.

Viet Nam is the third largest trade partner of the EU in ASEAN, with trade reaching 41 billion euros (US$48.7 billion) in 2016.

Viet Nam mainly exports electronics, textiles, footwear, rice, seafood and coffee to the EU, while imports hi-tech products, industrial machines and pharmaceuticals. — VNS