International Workshop: 5 Years of EVFTA Implementation and Future Vision
 

On 6 June 2025, at The Hotel (Boulevard de Waterloo 38, 1000 Bruxelles), the Embassy of Vietnam in Belgium in collaboration with the Belgium-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce (BVA) organized an international workshop with the theme “5 Years of EVFTA Implementation and Future Vision”. The event attracted about 250 delegates, including senior officials from Vietnam and the EU, representatives of ministries, provinces, businesses, associations and economic experts from both regions.

EVFTA: Outstanding achievements after 5 years

The Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) officially took effect from August 1, 2020. Despite being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical fluctuations, EVFTA still brought many positive results:

• Strong export growth: The proportion of exports to the EU in Vietnam's total export turnover reached 13.19% in 2024, with a trade surplus of 35.2 billion USD - the highest level among FTAs ​​that Vietnam participated in.
• Tax incentives: The rate of using EVFTA tariff incentives increased from 14.8% in 2020 to 35.2% in 2023.
• Attracting high-quality investment: EVFTA creates a transparent business environment, attracting FDI from the EU in the fields of high technology, renewable energy and green manufacturing.
• Institutional reform: The agreement encourages Vietnam to improve its legal framework on intellectual property, environment, labor and sustainable development, in line with international standards.

Challenges and future directions

Besides the achievements, EVFTA also faces a number of challenges:

• Uneven implementation capacity: The ability to implement commitments between ministries and localities is still different
• Difficulty in meeting rules of origin: Many businesses, especially SMEs, have difficulty meeting the requirements on goods origin to enjoy tariff preferences.
• Not fully exploiting investment opportunities: Although interest from EU investors has increased, actual FDI flows have not met expectations.

The workshop is an opportunity for the parties to evaluate the results achieved, identify existing problems and propose solutions to optimize benefits from EVFTA in the next phase, especially in the context of global trade fluctuations.

Connecting and cultural exchange

After the workshop, from 16:30 to 18:00 on the same day, the program “Meeting and Exchange – Vietnamese Food and Fruit Festival” took place at the same location. The event aims to promote Vietnamese culture and cuisine and create opportunities for businesses from both sides to connect.

The workshop “5 years of implementing EVFTA and future vision” is not only an opportunity to summarize the past journey but also opens up a new direction for Vietnam – EU economic cooperation in the future.