The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) co-hosted "Meet Europe 2021: EU-Vietnam Partnership Post-COVID-19", a major business-to-government event, in Hanoi on November 25 with an aim to strengthen ties between Vietnamese localities and European agencies and partners in fields of shared concern.
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| At the signing ceremony__Photo: VNA |
In her opening remarks, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong thanked the European Union (EU), its member states and EuroCham for donating over 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam via COVAX, Team Europe mechanisms, bilateral channels and “Breath Again” campaign launched by EuroCham.
She hailed the EU as one of the leading development cooperation partners, the fifth largest trade partner and the sixth biggest investor of Vietnam. She also described the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) that took effect on August 1, 2020 as a significant milestone in bilateral economic ties, opening up great opportunities for their enterprises.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade between Vietnam and the EU still expanded by nearly 20 percent annually, reaching more than 56 billion USD last year.
Hong expressed her belief that once approved, the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) will further deepen bilateral economic and investment ties.
The Vietnamese Government will offer all possible support for EuroCham and its members to invest in fields of Vietnam’s priority with incentives such as information technology, support industry, smart agriculture, environment protection, renewable energy, infrastructure, social welfare, high-quality human resources training, use of science for advanced and effective management, research and development, and innovation, she said.
EuroCham Chairman Alain Cany thanked the Vietnamese Government for supporting European firms amid difficulties caused by the pandemic. He suggested European countries and Vietnam make the best use of the EVFTA and hoped that bilateral trade will recover quickly following the pandemic.
The event featured two sessions, with the first focusing on policy dialogues to raise responsibility for improving business environment, and the second on connecting European localities and enterprises together post-pandemic with the participation of leaders from Bac Giang, Da Nang, Dong Nai, Khanh Hoa, Hai Duong, Quang Ninh and Thanh Hoa and outstanding European businesses in Vietnam.
As part of the event, the 13th edition of the White Book debuted while a ceremony to sign a new Memorandum of Understanding between the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry and EuroCham was held.- (VNA/VLLF)
