Ratification of EU-Vietnam agreements

This week EU Parliament has backed the free trade (FTA) and investment protection agreements (IPA) between the European Union and Vietnam.

The EU hopes that its free trade agreement (FTA) and investment protection agreement (IPA) with Vietnam will boost trade and investment; the agreements are also an important stepping stone to the EU’s longer-term goal of a region-to-region EU-Southeast Asia trade deal. Vietnam, a fast-growing and competitive economy whose bilateral trade with the EU has quintupled over the past ten years, is equally keen on the deal, which could potentially bring €15 billion a year of additional exports to the EU by 2035.

BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer said:

"This is a watershed moment for the EU's trade policy because these are the first comprehensive deals being struck with a developing country. They will be a stepping-stone towards further economic integration between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The agreements will also help companies take full potential of the manifold economic opportunities in a dynamic country of almost 100 million people with a GDP growth expected at 6.5% in 2020.

If the EU wants to become more geostrategic, it needs to have a stronger presence in Asia. These agreements consolidate the EU's presence in one of the fastest-growing regions of the world, and put European companies of all sizes on equal footing with competitors from countries that already have agreements with Vietnam, like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP11.