A yarn production line at Jasan Textile Dyeing Company Limited, Pho Noi B Textile and Garment Industrial Zone in northern Hung Yen province (Photo: VNA)
Commitments to provide fair and equal treatment as well as protection for investors of both sides in the freshly signed EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) are expected to help Vietnam attract major groups.
In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency, PhD Phan Huu Thang, former Director of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said the EVIPA was signed at the same time as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
The EVFTA’s commitments on trade and services are stronger than World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and those in other deals. For example, seven years after the agreement takes effect, 99.2 percent of tariff lines will be removed, helping promote investment from the EU and other countries into Vietnam, he said.
In addition, Vietnam has committed to providing better conditions for the EU in professional services, finance, telecommunications, and transportation as well as the fields of the bloc’s strengths like manufacturing, clean energy and renewable energy to attract attention from European investors, he added.
Compared to other agreements on investment protection and promotion Vietnam has signed with EU member nations, the EVIPA will help Vietnam achieve a balance between attracting investment and protecting national interests.
The EVIPA supplements some regulations to ensure the right to adjust policies of the investment receiving country, especially policies on public health protection, environmental safety, consumers and cultural diversity, he said.
The signing of the EVIPA is a big triumph in the international economic, political and investment ties of Vietnam, helping increase the country’s position in the global arena and boost investment from the EU and elsewhere, Thang stressed.
He added that if Vietnamese businesses could optimise opportunities from the EVFTA and EVIPA, they would be successful in working with EU investors.
Vietnam should redouble its efforts to improve the investment environment and legal system as well as policies related to investment, businesses, land and planning, while pushing ahead with administrative reforms and improving public services, he said.
The country should build a national action programme to implement the agreements to increase the quality of foreign investment into Vietnam, he added.-VNA
