MoU paves the way for stronger links with EU businesses

Chairwoman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) Nicola Connolly said that the MoU between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and EuroCham was a solid foundation for partnership in trade and investment on a provincial level. Following the event, EuroCham also organised a delegation of European businesses to meet with the People’s Committees of Tien Giang and Vinh Long provinces on October 29, 2015.

She said as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would create an opportunity to attract investment to Vietnam’s supporting industries and infrastructural projects, EuroCham, in collaboration with MoFA and local authorities, would organise a series of meetings with provincial authorities. These meetings will be geared towards discussions and information sharing on pending FTAs, investment projects, and discovering the expectations as well as receiving recommendations from European enterprises to facilitate business operations in participating provinces.

Connolly added that together with the EU-Vietnam FTA, which would allow EU exporters and investors to access Vietnam’s fast-growing market through different sectors, this agreement would also allow EU companies to bid for public contracts at Vietnamese ministries, including infrastructural projects such as roads and ports or important state-owned enterprises such as the power distribution company and the nationwide railway operator, and 34 public hospitals.

Talking about the concerns recently shared by EU investors in Vietnam, she noted that transparency and accountability, education and training, and availability of skilled labour force, as well as the implementation of the legal framework remained issues that EU members had to face due to procedural and legal uncertainties.

“EuroCham now comprises of 855 members, increasing significantly compared to the 780 at the beginning of the year. This proves the increasing interest of European businesses in Vietnam and their wish to form a united community with a common voice. We hope that the implementation of the EU-Vietnam FTA will significantly improve the business climate in Vietnam to welcome more EU investors,” she said.

Currently, the EU is one of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam. FDI inflows from the EU have been steadily recovering in 2015 after a retraction due to the global recession. The majority of EU capital inflows comes from France, Luxemburg, and Germany.

The EU was the second largest trading partner of Vietnam after China (excluding intra-ASEAN trade) in 2014, representing 10 per cent of Vietnam’s total trade. EU-Vietnam trade in goods was worth over 28.2 billion euro ($30.2 billion) last year, with 78.4 per cent coming from Vietnam’s exports to the EU.