Businesses should expand exports to the EU

The Vietnam - European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect from August 1, 2020. The agreement opens up opportunities to connect Vietnam's economy with 27 EU countries. Therefore, EVFTA is considered one of the important agreements to promote our country's economic development.

Immediately after the EVFTA took effect, many tax lines were immediately reduced to 0%, the rest were gradually reduced over a period of 3-7 years. This helps Vietnamese enterprises expand exports to the EU, increasing competitiveness. At the same time, the agreement creates incentives to attract investment from the EU and other countries to Vietnam.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade , after nearly 5 years of EVFTA taking effect, Vietnam's exports to the EU have grown strongly. Specifically, in 2014, Vietnam's export turnover to the EU reached nearly 28 billion USD; by 2024, it had nearly doubled and the trade balance was tilted in our country's favor. Currently, goods exported to the EU account for nearly 13% of Vietnam's total export turnover. Some economic experts assess that the EU is a region with 450 million people and a GDP of about 19 trillion USD, so the potential from this market is still very large and is waiting for Vietnamese enterprises to exploit.

For Dong Nai , the EU is one of the five major export markets, accounting for nearly 10% of the province's total export turnover. However, within the EU, Dong Nai enterprises mainly export to six countries: France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland and Portugal; although enterprises export to 21 other markets, the quantity is still very small. Therefore, to limit the impact of global trade tensions, Dong Nai enterprises can expand exports to the remaining countries in the EU.

Currently, the EU has invested in Dong Nai nearly 80 projects with a total registered capital of over 3 billion USD. Most of the projects are invested in the industrial sector and the products are mostly exported. Many EU enterprises in Dong Nai are looking for enterprises inside and outside the province to supply input products to increase the localization rate of products. Thus, goods exported to the EU or countries with which Vietnam has signed free trade agreements will enjoy preferential tariffs. This is an opportunity for enterprises in Dong Nai to link together and participate in the global supply chain. In the supply chain, there are EU enterprises, which will be more favorable when exporting to the EU market.

However, the EU market has very high requirements for product quality, design, origin and provenance. In particular, it requires businesses to ensure three criteria: environment, society and governance (ESG).

Khanh Minh

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202505/doanh-nghiep-nen-mo-rong-xuat-khau-vao-eu-ac2539a/