The EU-ABC Business Delegation is an annual activity jointly organized by EU-ABC and EuroCham in a number of ASEAN countries, aiming to promote trade and investment activities of European businesses in the Southeast Asia region.
Attending the meeting were leaders of the Departments: European - American Market, Multilateral Trade Policy, Energy Saving & Sustainable Development; Departments: Electricity & Renewable Energy, Electricity Regulation, Import-Export, Industry, E-Commerce & Digital Economy ; General Department of Market Management; National Competition Commission.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long welcomed and highly appreciated the purpose of the delegation's visit, and emphasized that the ASEAN - EU cooperation relationship has witnessed strong developments in recent times, being comprehensively promoted in all areas, including economy and trade. The EU is currently ASEAN's third largest trading partner with two-way turnover reaching 296.87 billion USD in 2023, and is also the leading foreign direct investor (FDI) in Southeast Asia. ASEAN - EU is a testament to the partnership between the two most successful regional organizations in the world in developing multilateral cooperation, promoting free trade on the basis of shared values and common interests.
As an active member of ASEAN, Vietnam currently has favorable conditions to implement economic and trade cooperation with EU partners, especially when Vietnam is considered one of the countries with high growth rates in ASEAN and has great advantages from the EVFTA. The two sides expressed optimism that in recent years, Vietnam - EU economic and trade cooperation has achieved many positive results, especially noteworthy in the context of unstable markets in the region, supply chains, and trade facing many difficulties. The EU is currently Vietnam's leading trade partner; in the opposite direction, Vietnam is also the EU's largest trade partner in the ASEAN bloc. As the coordinator of ASEAN-EU economic cooperation and the first developing country to sign and implement the Free Trade Agreement with the EU, Vietnam will continue to support the promotion of cooperation between the two sides, especially in the fields of trade and investment, contributing to maintaining the stability and diversity of the supply chain connecting the economies of the two regions, creating favorable conditions for cooperation activities between the ASEAN & EU business communities.
Representative of the European Business Delegation, Mr. Jens Rübbert, Chairman of the EU-ABC Council, said that the EU-ABC always strives to maintain a sustainable cooperative relationship with the ASEAN bloc and its member states; highly appreciates the role of Vietnam in ASEAN in promoting common economic goals. European businesses operating in Vietnam always have confidence in this market. According to the Business Confidence Index announced by EuroCham Vietnam in early 2024, nearly 3/4 (71%) of EU businesses have a positive assessment of the long-term business prospects in Vietnam. The index shows a positive and optimistic sentiment about the business investment environment in Vietnam, as well as affirms the cooperation efforts between the two sides.
At the meeting, leaders of functional units of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the European Business Delegation had specific and practical discussions revolving around many groups of issues such as the implementation of the EVFTA Agreement, cooperation in energy transition and sustainable development, e-commerce, prevention of counterfeit goods, smuggled goods, etc. The EU - ABC acknowledged the efforts of the Vietnamese Government in promoting a green and sustainable economy; this is also a common vision to help increase the attractiveness of Vietnam's investment environment for European businesses and hopes that with this orientation, Vietnam and Europe will achieve more positive changes in bilateral economic cooperation activities in the coming time.
Concluding the meeting, the two sides affirmed and highly appreciated the prospects for developing economic and trade relations between ASEAN - EU and Vietnam - EU; at the same time, they agreed to strengthen close cooperation, creating favorable conditions for the business community to do business and invest effectively and long-term. The Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to make the most of the opportunities and advantages from the EVFTA Agreement, promote cooperation in the industrial sector, especially in fundamental industries (mechanics, processing, manufacturing, electronics, supporting industries, materials industry, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, etc.). At the same time, strengthen new and important areas of cooperation that both sides are interested in and are also the EU's strengths such as green economy, digital economy, energy transition, circular economy... Vietnam hopes to continue receiving investment, technical support and high technology transfer from EU partners to build production models, product quality control systems, ensure compliance with international regulations and standards, and jointly build a diverse and sustainable supply chain.
In 2023, in the context of the European economy losing growth momentum , high inflation , and declining demand for consumption and import of goods in the EU, trade between Vietnam and this market area has been significantly affected. According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the EU in 2023 reached 58.6 billion USD, down 5.8% compared to 2022, of which exports reached 43.7 billion USD, down 6.7%, imports reached 14.9 billion USD, down 3.2%. Vietnam's trade surplus with the EU market in 2023 was 28.7 billion USD, down from 31.4 billion USD in 2022. However, the import and export turnover of goods between Vietnam and the EU has shown signs of improvement since the last quarter of 2023, when it only decreased by 0.4% compared to the same period in 2022. Entering the first months of 2024, bilateral trade activities recorded a positive start when they continued to recover and grow positively , despite the fact that the regional economy still faces many difficulties and instabilities. According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, in the first 5 months of 2024, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the EU reached 26.6 billion USD, an increase of 12.9% over the same period in 2023, of which export turnover reached 20.3 billion USD, an increase of 14%, and import turnover reached 6.29 billion USD, an increase of 9.5%. According to Eurostat, the EU imported goods from Vietnam in the first 4 months of 2024, reaching 16.54 billion EUR, up 5.5% over the same period last year; notably, in the context of the EU's reduced import demand, imports from Vietnam still recorded growth. The market share of Vietnamese goods in the EU's total imports from the extra-bloc market in the first 4 months of 2024 accounted for 2.1%, higher than the market share of other ASEAN countries such as Malaysia (1.1%), Thailand (1.1%), Singapore (0.7%), Indonesia (0.6%). |
Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/hoat-dong/hoat-dong-cua-lanh-dao-bo/thu-truong-nguyen-hoang-long-lam-viec-voi-phai-doan-hoi-dong-kinh-doanh-chau-au-asean.html
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