Since the European Commission first gave approval for the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) in October, 2018, Ho Chi Minh City has been active in implementing a range of solutions aimed at helping firms seize the opportunities of this agreement.

The first seven months of the year saw the southern metropolis’s export turnover stand at an estimated US$2.7 billion with import turnover at US$1.5 billion. 

The remarks by Duong Anh Duc, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee came during a recent teleconference detailing the implementation of the EVFTA.

The EU can be considered an important trading partner and a traditional export market, making up the third largest export partner, and the second biggest importer, for the southern metropolis.

Over the past three decades, the EU, excluding the UK, has been behind 909 licensed and certified projects throughout Ho Chi Minh City, totaling capital of US$3.17 billion. Most notably during the first half of the year, 54 European projects received newly-granted investment certificates, whilst the first seven months of the year saw the southern city’s export turnover stand at an estimated US$2.7 billion with import turnover at US$1.5 billion.

Furthermore, Ho Chi Minh’s major exports to the EU market include leather and footwear, garments and textiles, and agricultural products, whilst imports are largely made up of modern production machinery and equipment. In terms of import and export structure, products of the two sides face no direct competition, indeed, they can be considered complementary to each other.

Due to the EVFTA’s strong commitments to opening markets and abolishing nearly 100% of import duties through EVFTA tariffs, the nation’s participation in the trade deal will open a wide door for goods from Ho Chi Minh City to gain entry into the EU, a market made up of over 500 million people.

Moreover, Ho Chi Minh City has been always active in organising a range of propaganda seminars as a means of facilitating the EVFTA implementation process of local businesses. Indeed, these events help them to fully grasp the main contents of the trade deal, with a specific emphasis placed on the rules of origin, a key factor to enjoying preferential tax rates from the agreement, Duc added.