- Country or region
- Vietnam
- Trade topics
- Negotiations and agreements
- Trade policy
The European Union and Vietnam signed a Trade Agreement and an Investment Protection Agreement on 30 June 2019. The European Parliament subsequently gave its consent to both Agreements on 12 February 2020 and the Free Trade Agreement was concluded by Council on 30 March 2020.
The Trade Agreement entered into force on 1 August 2020.
The Investment Protection Agreement will enter into force when it is ratified by all EU Member States. As of June 2024, 18 EU Member States had ratified it.
Trade picture
- Vietnam was the EU's 17th biggest trade-in-goods partner and the EU's largest trading partner in goods in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2023, with total trade flows amounting to €64.2 billion.
- The EU's main exports to Vietnam are high tech products, including electrical machinery and equipment, aircraft, vehicles, and pharmaceutical products.
- Vietnam's main exports to the EU are telephone sets, electronic products, footwear, textiles and clothing, coffee, rice, seafood, and furniture.
- With a total foreign direct investment outward stock of €13.8 billion (2022), the EU is one of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam. The largest sector of investment by the EU is industrial processing and manufacturing.
The EU and Vietnam
The trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam entered into force on 1 August 2020. The Investment Protection Agreement will enter into force after ratification by all EU Member States. The agreements with Vietnam are the second (following those with Singapore) to have been concluded between the EU and a Southeast Asian country, and represent stepping-stones to a greater engagement between the EU and the region.
The trade and investment agreements develop the commercial dimension of bilateral relations between the EU and Vietnam that find their foundation and are governed by the EU-Vietnam Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation (PCA) that entered into force in October 2016.
Vietnam and ASEAN
Vietnam is one of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and has become the EU's most important partner in the region for trade in goods. It is the EU's second-most important ASEAN partner for trade in goods and services combined (after Singapore). An increasing number of European companies are establishing in the country to set up hubs to serve the Mekong region.
Committees and Dialogues
The EU and Vietnam meet regularly to discuss issues and best practices and oversee the proper functioning of the Agreement.
Technical committee meetings - agendas and reports
Trading with Vietnam
- Importing into the EU from Vietnam
- EU trade defence measures on imports from Vietnam
- Exporting from the EU to Vietnam
- Trade relations are part of the EU's overall political and economic relations with Vietnam
- Vietnam is a member of the World Trade Organization
- Sustainable impact assessment of the EU-ASEAN Countries Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
Latest news
Today, the European Commission countered the circumvention of its anti-subsidy measures on cold-rolled stainless steel (SSCR) from Indonesia by extending the measures to also cover imports from Taiwan, Türkiye and Vietnam.
On 8 February, Vietnam extended the validity of existing marketing authorisations of pharmaceutical products until 2024. For the next two years, EU exporters of pharmaceuticals will thus avoid having to go through complex procedures for the renewal of their marketing authorisation.
The EU welcomes the removal by Vietnam, as of today, of discrimination against a number of EU Member States' regulatory authorities for pharmaceutical products.
