Vietnam’s Export Turnover to the EU to Increase by 20%

At the European Market Forum following the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) held on November 16, Ms. Hoang Ngoc Oanh, representative of the Center for Industry and Trade Information (Ministry of Industry and Trade) predicted that after EVFTA comes into effect, Vietnam’s export turnover to the EU will increase by 20% in 2020.

According to Ms. Hoang Ngoc Oanh, when tariff lines decrease sharply in 2025, the export turnover to the EU is expected to increase to 42.7% and to 44.37% in 2030. Accordingly, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Vietnam will also increase by 2.18 – 3.25% in the period of 2019 – 2023 to 7.07 – 7.72% in the period of 2029 – 2033. Export turnover of industries including processed foods (especially seafood), rice, vegetables, fruits, nuts; electronics, machinery, other manufacturing industries and aviation services, expertise, telecommunications, shipping of the Vietnamese economy will grow strongly in the near future.

“With the commitments to eliminating tariffs, reducing non-tariff barriers, improving business environment, increasing mutual recognition of standards, textile, food processing, and automobile industries will have the opportunity to participate in the global value chain” Ms. Hoang Ngoc Oanh said.

As a “new-generation” free trade agreement, EVFTA includes provisions on intellectual property protection, free investment and sustainable development. In parallel with EVFTA, commitments to fairness, equality and safety in the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) will also contribute positively to building a transparent legal and investment environment, with which investment relations between Vietnam and the EU will be improved significantly.

At the forum, Mr. Hoang Quang Phong – Vice President of VCCI shared that EVFTA is expected to be a huge boost for Vietnam’s exports, helping to diversify markets and export commodities. For businesses that have never approached this market, EVFTA is an opportunity for be a part of one of the largest markets in the world. Most importantly, businesses need to have a more comprehensive and proactive vision in accessing information about new markets. At the same time, it is necessary to understand their market position in the context of integration, restructuring management and technology to meet the requirements of rules of origin and technical barriers, establishing a risk prevention system.

According to the latest figures of the General Department of Customs, in the second half of October 2019 (October 16 to October 31), Vietnam’s total import-export turnover reached USD 24.74 billion, an increase of 17.8% compared to the first half of the month. Generally, in the first 10 months of 2019, Vietnam’s total import and export value reached USD 428.63 billion, up 8%, equivalent to an increase of USD 31.7 billion in absolute terms compared to the same period in 2018.

The 10 largest export items of Vietnam in the last 10 months are telephones, computers, textiles, footwear, machinery and equipment, timber, means of transport, aquatic products, iron and steel, and textile fibers of all kinds. The good news is that out of 10 major export commodity groups, there are 8 categories with higher export value than the same period last year.

There are 3 commodity groups with export turnover of over USD 27 billion, of which leading is telephone with turnover of USD 44.03 billion. Textile and footwear have export turnover of more than USD 14 billion. While there are 5 other industries achieving export turnover of over USD 3.4 billion. Currently, the proportion of Vietnam’s goods exported to the EU accounts for about 18.3% and imports from the EU is 7.2%.