Vietnam is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and subsequently a member of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Under AFTA, ASEAN members (including Brunei, the Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia) have committed to making the region a competitive trading area. Apart from ASEAN countries, Vietnam has also signed trade agreements with the PRC, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand, India, Chile and Japan. It signed a bilateral trade agreement with Korea in 2015, as well as a trade agreement with the Russian-led customs union bloc. In 2019, Vietnam signed a free trade agreement with the EU. This agreement entered into force in August 2020. Vietnam is currently negotiating a free trade agreement with the EFTA countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland). The bilateral trade and investment agreements with Vietnam concluded by the EU in March 2020 and the trade agreement are expected to enter into force during the summer after their final ratification by Vietnam. The agreements with Vietnam are the second (after those with Singapore) between the EU and a Southeast Asian country and represent a springboard for increased engagement between the EU and the region. Vietnam Briefing is produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The company supports foreign investors across Asia from offices around the world, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Readers can write to [email protected] for more support in doing business in Vietnam.
Describes the trade agreements in which this country is involved. Provides resources for U.S. companies to obtain information on the use of these agreements. Vietnam became the 150th member of the WTO in 2007 and, after accession, promised to fully comply with the WTO Agreements on Customs Valuation, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures. The United States and Vietnam concluded a bilateral trade agreement (FTA) in 2000, which entered into force in 2001. This agreement was signed in response to requests from both parties. The EU is a section that represents an important part of the trade relations between Vietnam and the EU. This relationship has developed rapidly and efficiently: from 2000 to 2017, the turnover of Vietnam-EU trade relations increased more than 13.8 times, from $4.1 billion in 2000 to $56.39 billion in 2019, Vietnam`s exports to the EU by 14.8 times (from $2.8 billion to $41.48 billion) and EU imports to Vietnam by more than 11.5 times ( from $1.3 billion to $14.91 billion). The Vietnamese government should also continue on the path of its reforms – strengthening the banking sector, eliminating corruption, refining legal and tax structures, and improving trade facilitation.
The agreements must now be ratified by the Vietnamese National Assembly and, in the case of the investment protection agreement, by EU member states. The BTA is the most comprehensive trade agreement Vietnam has signed to date. Below are a number of links that provide additional information about the BTA. Several reports at the top of the link list provide readable summaries and/or explanations of what the BTA covers and means. Please note that U.S. non-governmental sites and reports do not represent the views of the U.S. government and do not constitute authoritative interpretations of the BTA. Once these trade agreements enter into force, they will allow Vietnam to use the reduced tariffs both within the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and with the EU and the US to attract exporting enterprises for production in Vietnam and export to partners outside ASEAN.
Vietnam has been a member of ASEAN since July 1995. This opened the country`s new era of international economic integration. Since then, Vietnam has joined 13 free trade agreements and negotiated 3 new generation free trade agreements not only with foreign countries, but also with territories of the world. AFTA, a multilateral free trade agreement between ASEAN countries, is the first agreement to which Vietnam has acceded. Since its entry into force in 1993, Vietnam has consistently acceded to several bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements. This can be done in two ways – first, through more diversified supply partners through larger trade networks and cheaper imports of intermediate goods from partner countries, which should increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese exports. Overall, ASEAN is the EU`s third largest trading partner outside Europe (after the US and China). Ensuring better access for EU exporters to the dynamic ASEAN market is an EU priority. Negotiations on an EU-ASEAN trade and investment agreement between the regions started in 2007 and were interrupted by mutual agreement in 2009 to make way for a bilateral negotiating format. These bilateral trade and investment agreements were conceived as building blocks of a future region-to-region agreement. The benefits of free trade agreements will enable Vietnam`s economic development to shift from exporting low-tech manufacturing products and primary products to more complex high-tech products such as electronics, machinery, vehicles and medical devices. Vietnam`s accession to these trade agreements will also ensure alignment with national standards ranging from workers` rights to environmental protection.
The CPTPP and EVFTA require Vietnam to comply with International Labour Organization (ILO) standards. Ilo Chan Lee noted that this is an opportunity for Vietnam to modernize its labour laws and labour relations systems. On December 1, 2015, EVFTA officially ended negotiations and on February 1, 2016, the contract document was announced. On June 26, 2018, two parts were adopted unanimously, as a result, the EVFTA was separated from two agreements: the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Two agreements were signed on 30 June 2019. On 12 February 2020, the European Parliament adopted EVFTA and EVIPA. On June 8, 2020, the Vietnamese National Assembly approved these agreements. Therefore, they will officially come into force on August 1, 2020. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a next-generation free trade agreement that includes 11 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The agreement was signed on March 8, 2018. For Vietnam, it has been in force since January 14, 2019. This agreement adapts many areas, from traditional trade to some less traditional issues such as government procurement, e-commerce or the expansion of certain non-traditional issues such as labour, the environment, the fight against corruption in trade and investment.
The CPTPP is considered a comprehensive and high-quality free trade agreement with the deepest commitment from the past to the present day. ==References=====External links===For Vietnam to receive NTR`s annual status, a bilateral trade agreement must be concluded and approved by Congress, and the president must waive the “Jackson-Vanik” provision, suggesting that such a waiver would significantly promote Vietnam`s freedom of emigration. .
