The total trade turnover of the EU and Vietnam will reach 63.6 billion USD in 2021, but cooperation in the agricultural sector between the two sides has not been commensurate with the potential and desire.
Chairman of the Vietnam Confederation of Trade and Industry (VCCI) Pham Tan Cong emphasized at the Vietnam – EU Agribusiness Forum organized by the VCCI in collaboration with the European Commission, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Nam, the EU Delegation to Vietnam and the European Business Association in Vietnam held this morning (July 11) in Hanoi.
EVFTA helps trade growth during the pandemic
The EU is Vietnam’s most important partner, while Vietnam is a potential and safe investment market for European businesses.
VCCI President Pham Tan Cong reiterated his joy when the Vietnam – EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) officially comes into effect in 2020. Nearly 2 years of implementation, most of which was affected by the pandemic. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the EVFTA has shown its importance when helping two-way trade between Vietnam and the EU increase by 14.8%. EU exports to Vietnam increased by 16.5%, Vietnam maintained a positive growth during the Covid-19 epidemic, reaching 2.58%.
Although the total two-way trade turnover of the EU and Vietnam is very large, reaching 63.6 billion USD in 2021, cooperation in the agricultural sector is not commensurate with the potential and desire.
With the strength of being a country with a long-standing developed agriculture and a strong culinary civilization in the world, Vietnam is proud to have exported many agricultural products such as shrimp, fish, seafood, dragon fruit, and lychee. … to many countries around the world, including the EU. The EU is the third largest agricultural export market with a turnover of about $5.5 billion per year, accounting for 15% of Vietnam’s total agricultural export value but only 4% of the EU’s total agricultural product import turnover. in the year 2021.
With such a proportion, it shows that the value and turnover of Vietnam’s agricultural exports to the EU is still low compared to Vietnam’s export potential, as well as the EU’s import demand. In contrast, with the increasing standard of living in Vietnam, the demand for high-quality EU agricultural products will increase sharply in the coming time. This shows that the potential for cooperation between the EU and Vietnam is huge.
Cooperation to build green and modern agriculture
VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong emphasized: As a national organization representing the Vietnamese business community, VCCI has organized many activities to promote trade, investment and support businesses; including the agricultural sector. In 2022, VCCI will focus on building a set of Provincial Green Index (PGI) indicators to encourage and promote efforts of provincial governments towards private sector development in the spirit of the Strategy. National green growth and National strategy to respond to climate change.
According to VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong, this is not only a “guideline” for the development of enterprises in a stable state, but also acts as a beacon for businesses to adapt and recover in the face of challenges. global crises.
With the future of development cooperation in agriculture between the EU and Vietnam is very large, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong hopes that the EU will strengthen the sharing of information and experience, and assist Vietnam in formulating policies and models. agricultural growth model in the direction of green, modern and sustainable, supporting capacity building. In particular, there is support to strengthen infrastructure, human resources, techniques, and technology transfer to help Vietnam develop agricultural technical standards to reach international standards.
In particular, supporting Vietnam in adapting and mitigating the impact of climate change on agricultural activities, implementing commitments on emission reduction and environmental protection as committed at the Summit. on climate change by the United Nations 2021 (COP26).
VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong also suggested strongly promoting the cooperation of the EU and Vietnamese business communities. This is a channel to help realize and promote cooperation between the two sides, especially in the exploitation and implementation of the EVFTA Agreement. Vietnamese businesses make good use of this opportunity to meet, exchange, capture information and find reliable partners in the EU.
“With the mission of being a bridge between businesses of the two sides, VCCI affirms that it will always actively support and coordinate closely with EU and Vietnamese businesses for the development and long-term cooperation between the business communities of the two sides. ” – Chairman of VCCI Pham Tan Cong affirmed.
According to Business Forum
