The EVFTA Agreement has opened up many opportunities for Vietnam to boost exports to this market.

Vietnam has exported agricultural products to most members of the EU, in which the export market focuses mainly on a number of countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, and Poland. However, the market share of Vietnamese agricultural products in the EU market is still small, exported agricultural products are mainly in raw form, competitive in price in the low segment. The Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Vietnam (EVFTA) officially took effect from August 1, 2020, opening up many opportunities for Vietnam's agricultural industry to boost exports to the market. This.

As soon as the EVFTA takes effect, about 94% of the total 547 tax lines for fresh and processed vegetables and fruits will be cut to 0% by the EU, including many vegetable and fruit products, which are Vietnam's export strengths. . This is a huge competitive advantage compared to agricultural products from other countries in Asia, especially with two large agricultural markets: Thailand and China.

Commitments in EVFTA on sustainable development

Vietnam has the clearest advantage in the EVFTA Agreement with tariff reduction incentives and strong market opening, giving Vietnamese businesses a huge competitive advantage when accessing and effectively exploiting the market. EU.

At the same time, the EU is also the second largest import market in the world with the import value of goods from foreign markets reaching 2,160.2 billion USD (2020). Meanwhile, the market share of Vietnamese export goods in the EU is only about 2%, the import-export structure of Vietnamese and EU goods is also largely complementary, not directly competitive.

Therefore, the market potential is still relatively large in the coming time, when the EU economy recovers, grows again and the demand for consumption and import of goods increases.

With commitments in the EVFTA on sustainable development, digital trade will create favorable conditions for Vietnam to access modern and advanced "digital and green" technology from the EU to promote economic restructuring according to the EU's standards. "leapfrog" direction towards a digital and green economy, environmentally friendly, converting to high standard technology, helping Vietnamese goods have an advantage in quality, meeting technical and environmental standards. high market like the EU market.

The trend of shifting production chains and investment flows will bring great opportunities for Vietnam to increase competitiveness and attract investment from the EU, with a solid foundation from EVFTA. EU investment is currently mainly focused on high-tech industries, however, there is a growing trend in service industries (post and telecommunications, finance, office rental, retail). ), clean energy, supporting industries, food processing, high-tech agriculture, pharmaceuticals...

European investors have technological advantages, so they will actively contribute to the creation of a number of new industries and new products with high technology content. Investment flows from the EU into Vietnam in the medium and long term will increase significantly with many high-value quality projects, while promoting support for technology transfer.

Minh Toan