The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) officially took effect in August 2020, opening tremendous prospects in the comprehensive partnership between the two. After a year of looking back amid a global pandemic, besides economic growth and trade and foreign direct investment with industries in general, the real impact of the EVFTA on the pharmaceutical industry remains to be seen, especially for European enterprises.

In June, Vietnam and the EU signed the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), ending a long negotiation with a historic milestone in the long-standing partnership between the two economies. Firms and citizens of both the EU and Vietnam will enjoy not only tariff deductions but also plenty of non-tariff relief in trade. More importantly, this is a big step moving forward for the EU to assure and strengthen its partnership with Southeast Asia, as well as for Vietnam to speed up its long-term integration into the global economy.

Tomaso Andreatta, banker and deputy chairman of EuroCham Vietnam, talks with VIR’s Thu Hanh about recent changes to banking regulations and their impacts on foreign banks.