Vietnam Industrial Parks InfoGate ! Industrial Zones ! Export Processing Zones ! EVFTA adds value from behind-the-border reforms

With an open approach, Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, Vice Chairman of the Association of Foreign Investment Enterprises, said that the completion of the investment environment, expansion and more favorable conditions, and more attractive export prospects will attract. FDI from the EU to Vietnam more.

According to Mr. Toan, with a series of strong fields such as services, finance, automobiles, manufacturing and processing, information technology, high technology, processed agricultural products, these will be EU sectors. investing in Vietnam and also the fields that Vietnam needs to invest and develop comprehensively.

The story of FDI attraction is just one of the examples showing that it is difficult to measure the immediate value in the effects brought from the implementation of the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The World Bank has recommended that Vietnam complete the legal framework and enforce its capacity to fully reap the benefits of EVFTA.

It is estimated that taking advantage of EVFTA tariff preferences alone could help Vietnam’s GDP increase by 2.4% and exports by 12% by 2030.

“However, the benefits will be even greater if Vietnam implements a comprehensive economic and institutional reform agenda to comply with non-tariff provisions in this agreement, and at the same time improve enforcement of rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures for crops and domestic animals, and a mechanism for dealing with disputes between the State and investors. These reforms will create a ’productivity nudge’, increasing GDP by 6.8% from the baseline scenario by 2030. The Covid-19 epidemic is a restart button and EVFTA is an acceleration button, this is The perfect time to pursue deeper domestic reforms, "said Mr. Ousmane Dione, former Country Director of the World Bank in Vietnam.

Analyzing more clearly the impacts of institutional framework reform, Mr. Nicolas Audier, President of European Business Association (EuroCham) in Vietnam, said that the most important factor for successful implementation of EVFTA is to promote reforming the legal institutional framework through improving administrative procedures, cutting and streamlining business conditions, thereby helping to improve the investment environment and perfect the legal framework.

Ms. Axelle Nicaise, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, pointed out that the biggest benefit of EVFTA is not only to eliminate tariffs, but also to promote institutional reforms towards greater transparency and Consistent consistency of the legal framework.

“Improving these frameworks will help improve the quality of Vietnam’s business environment, accelerate production restructuring to turn Vietnam into a regional manufacturing center, and help Vietnam receive strong FDI inflows. more associated with better technology transfer, thus making better use of labor resources, ”said Axelle Nicaise.

According to Axelle Nicaise, the improvement of institutions, the design of a policy framework will only optimize the benefits of EVFTA implementation when the business community of both sides can take full advantage of the Agreement’s benefits, especially in market entry, facilitation in production - business and cross-border trade.

According to WB experts, together with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), EVFTA can encourage and promote domestic reform programs beyond the scope of the “ trade ”in the agreements.

EVFTA will help foster competition, cooperation and capacity building, and encourage the development of services, including financial services, telecommunications and temporary entry for service providers, such as customs, logistics and e-commerce.

In addition, many provisions of EVFTA will also stimulate the standardization of rules, promote transparency and support the establishment of modern institutions in Vietnam, especially in the fields of environment and bidding. public, intellectual property, investment, labor standards, legal issues, rules of origin and non-tariff measures.

Provisions of state-owned enterprises under the CPTPP and EVFTA agreements are also particularly important for Vietnam, and will maintain structural adjustments in Vietnam towards a market-based, public-based economy. equal and create a level playing field.