EVFTA presents opportunities for Vietnam-Germany trade: seminar

ABO/NDO- Enterprises at a seminar in Hanoi on December 14 were informed about business opportunities in Germany offered by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The seminar on promoting trade between Vietnam and Germany through the EVFTA was jointly held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) - Vietnam.

Germany was the second biggest buyer of Vietnamese goods in the European Union (EU) and the seventh biggest in the world last year. Germany was also the second largest goods supplier of Vietnam in the EU, and the 14th biggest in the world.

The seminar on promoting trade between Vietnam and Germany through the EVFTA (Photo: VGP).

VCCI Vice Chairman Hoang Quang Phong said trade between Vietnam and Germany increased from 5.6 billion USD in 2011 when the two countries set up their strategic partnership to 10 billion USD last year.

The EVFTA is expected to create breakthroughs in bilateral trade ties, as the agreement removes up to 99.2 percent of tariff lines for Vietnamese goods to Germany after seven years since it came to force and 98.3 percent of tariff lines for German products imported in the Vietnamese market after 10 years.

The deal also includes many other commitments regarding customs, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers, trade remedies, e-commerce, intellectual property and public procurement, which help to establish standards and principles facilitating the penetration of Vietnamese and German goods into each other's markets.

Phong suggested Vietnamese firms study commitments by both Vietnam and Germany in the EVFTA, saying exporters and importers should scope out the markets and learn about relevant regulations.

On this occasion, VCCI introduced a manual guiding businesses how to make use of the EVFTA to boost export and import between Vietnam and Germany, and a news site on the Vietnam-Germany trade.

According to Pham Hung Tien, Deputy Director of FNF Vietnam, German firms are interested in electricity and wind power development projects in the central provinces of Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan, along with personnel training in Vietnam.

He also pointed out potential for bilateral cooperation in the auto and the assembly industries.

(Source: NDO)