According to the EVFTA Report 2018 launched by the EuroCham on October 9, enterprises said that the EVFTA will help Vietnam increase its competitive edge.

Co-Chairman of EuroCham Nicolas Audier said that EuroCham members believe that the EVFTA will create favorable conditions for Vietnam to improve its competitive capacity in comparison with other countries like China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

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European firms at a seminar on EVFTA in Brussels

Besides this, 72 percent of the firms also agreed that Vietnam will become a hub for European companies in the ASEAN thanks to the free trade deal.

On top of the clear economic benefits of the EVFTA, EuroCham members believed that it will have positive impacts on a range of social and environmental issues in Vietnam, from welfare and environmental protection, to knowledge transfer and workers’ rights. One third of firms said that the agreement will have considerable influence on Vietnam’s sustainable development and environmental protection.

A EuroCham survey, which included 132 respondents, showed that an overwhelming 93 percent of enterprises believe that the EVFTA should be implemented in 2019, or as soon as possible thereafter. The FTA is said to bring win-win benefits to both Europe and Vietnam, with 85 percent of the European enterprises saying that it will have a “significant” or “moderate” impact on their business or investment plan in Vietnam.

Firms also said that Vietnam’s reform efforts will offer opportunities for the country to integrate deeper into the global economy.

Source: VNA