Vietnam has become more attractive to foreign investors than ever before as various freshly-inked new-generation free trade deals, including the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), are expected to facilitate trade and benefit foreign enterprises.

Automobile assembling at Toyota Vietnam factory. (Photo: baodautu.vn)

Commitments included in the EVIPA will contribute to building a transparent legal and investment environment, helping Vietnam attract more investors from the EU and other countries.

Besides, the negotiations and implementation of the agreements conveyed a positive message on Vietnam’s determination in furthering its integration into the world economy.

European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom and Romanian Minister for Business Environment, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship Stefan Radu Oprea shared the view that the high level of commitments in the EVIPA will build up EU investors’ confidence in the Vietnamese market. 

Oprea believed the signing of the two deals would kick off an effective cooperation in trade and investment between the two sides. 

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Vu Dai Thang said that with the two agreements, EU corporations will have a chance to penetrate into the ASEAN market and those of the members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

“The two deals help promote investment not only from the EU but also from other foreign markets”, Thang stressed.

In fact, besides EU businesses, many Japanese enterprises have expressed their intention in investing in Vietnam, and are interested in trade opportunities resulted from the free trade pacts that Vietnam has engaged in. A case in point is Toray Industries which wants to get involved in Vietnam’s weaving sector with a modern and complete industrial complex. As for Sumitomo group, besides smart city development, they want to jump into Vietnamese fintech segment.

Speaking at the investment promotion conference in Tokyo on July 1, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc stressed that with the pacts, Vietnam will be a “centre of the global trade flows”.

Vietnam always sees Japanese businesses as the country’s leading strategic partners, he said, hoping to receive more investments from the East Asian country in the coming time.

Right at the conference, PM Phuc witnessed the presentation of 32 investment certificates and Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with a combined value of up to 8 billion USD between Vietnamese and Japanese firms. 

According to Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO)’s survey, more than 70 percent Japanese businesses have expressed their desire to expand business in Vietnam to take advantage of the trade pacts.