Xinhua | 8 June 2020

Vietnam ratifies free trade, investment pacts with EU

HANOI, June 8 (Xinhua) — Vietnam’s National Assembly, the country’s top legislature, passed resolutions ratifying the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) at an ongoing session here Monday.

The lawmakers gave consent to the EVFTA and the EVIPA by 94.62 percent and 95.45 percent respectively, according to the Vietnamese government’s official website.

The two agreements were signed between Vietnam and the EU in the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi in June last year, covering a wide range of issues including trade in goods and services, public procurement, investment court system, sustainable development, labor and environmental and consumer protection.

The Council of the European Union adopted a decision on the conclusion of the EVFTA in March. According to the agreement, which is expected to come into force this summer, Vietnam and the EU will gradually realize almost complete tariff elimination on imports from each other.

The trade pact is expected to bring several immediate benefits to Vietnam, as well as longer-term benefits from economic and institutional restructures, the World Bank analyzed in a report released in May.

Vietnam is the EU’s second largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to the EU’s official website.