This is the first online seminar organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and a European country to propagate about EVFTA Agreement for European businesses, calling for bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation. .
In the context of the serious Covid-19 pandemic worldwide, the organization of the seminar via online format was assessed by businesses of both sides as the most effective way of exchanging businesses, associations, trade promotion organizations at home and abroad grasp useful information, before EVFTA officially comes into effect from August 1, 2020.
At the seminar, the Vietnamese bridgehead was attended by Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, French Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr. Nicolas Warnery, Representative of French Trade and Investment Agency (Business France). ) in Vietnam and the relevant Departments of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. French bridge with the participation of the Head of the European Ministry and French Foreign Affairs, Mr. Francois Delattre; President of the French Trade and Investment Agency, Mr. Christophe Lecourtier. In addition, there are online participation of more than 400 key French businesses and more than 100 Vietnamese businesses.
The seminar gave French businesses access to Vietnam's trade and investment policies in effect after the EVFTA Agreement came into effect, new information about the potential market. nearly 100 million people and is the gateway of ASEAN region with over 600 million people.
On the side of French businesses, they expressed their wish that the Vietnamese Government would create the most favorable conditions for French production and business activities and projects in Vietnam. The current common trend of French and European businesses is to link and build strategic partnerships with local enterprises to build new production and supply chains, effectively taking advantage of EVFTA and EVIPA agreements. This means that Vietnamese businesses face many opportunities to cooperate with European partners to participate in the global value chain. On the other hand, challenges will go hand in hand, requiring Vietnamese businesses to proactively innovate business thinking, production methods and governance, to meet quality standards, to keep up with the development trend of the market. European market.
On this occasion, Minister Tran Tuan Anh congratulated the new French Government and hoped that under the guidance of Prime Minister Jean Castex, cooperation activities between Vietnam and France would continue to develop stronger and more substantially. supporting the development of the business community of the two sides growing more and more sustainable.
According to statistics, the two-way trade value between Vietnam and France has more than tripled from about 1.6 billion USD in 2009 to 5.3 billion USD in 2019 (ranked 3rd in Europe after Germany and the Netherlands). Regarding direct investment, accumulated until the end of May 2020, France has 588 investment projects in Vietnam with a total investment capital of 3.56 billion USD, ranked second among European investors. in Vietnam (after the Netherlands).
In the first 5 months of 2020, due to the influence of Covid-19, the import-export turnover between Vietnam and France reached US $ 1.77 billion, down 18.66% compared to the same period in 2019. Of which, exports reached 1 , 20 billion USD, and imports reached 572.37 million USD. Bilateral trade is expected to only grow again in the last months of the year after France re-starts the economy and the economy gradually recovers.

Source: Ministry of Industry and Trade