The meeting was co-chaired by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Vice President of the European Commission and Trade Commissioner of the European Union Valdis Dombrovskis. The Vietnamese delegation attending the meeting included representatives of the Ministries of Industry and Trade, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Development, and several related ministries...

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and review the implementation of the Agreement, as well as issues of interest to both sides related to trade and investment in bilateral as well as multilateral frameworks. Specifically, the two parties adopted the Decision No. 1 of the Trade Committee on the Rules of Procedure of the Trade Committee. This set out rules related to the operation of the Trade Committee such as functions, composition, secretariat, decision-making mechanism, information transparency, etc.

In addition, the two sides also listened to reports on the results of technical meetings of the Committee on Trade in Goods, and the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. At the same time, they discussed several issues of mutual concern on commodity market access and sustainable development. Both sides agreed to work closely to speed up the implementation of the Agreement and resolve issues that may adversely affect the business activities of both sides' businesses to help maintain and develop the supply chain in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Besides bilateral content, Viet Nam and EU representatives also discussed multilateral issues such as the reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and preparation for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference scheduled on 30/11-01/12/2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. Viet Nam expressed high appreciation and support for the EU's efforts in recent years to ensure that the WTO is operated in accordance with new practices in international trade and investment as well as the interests of member countries, especially developing and least developed countries.

Concluding the meeting, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien affirmed that despite the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Viet Nam would like both parties to work together towards the goal of realizing opportunities for businesses and benefits for people of both Viet Nam and the EU and bringing the relationship between Vietnam and the EU to a new level.

The EVFTA has taken effect from August 1, 2020. After nearly a year of implementation, bilateral trade between both sides have had growth. Accordingly, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the European Union in the first 6 months of 2021 reached 27.67 billion USD, up 18.4% over the same period in 2020 when the Agreement did not come into force, in which exports increased by 18.3% (reaching 19.4 billion USD) and imports from the EU into Vietnam increased by more than 19.1% (reaching 8.2 billion USD) over the same period in 2020. Vietnam's main exports to the EU are phones and components, computers, electronic products and components, footwear, textiles, vegetables, seafood, rice, coffee... Viet Nam’s main imports from the EU are components, auto parts, complete cars of all kinds, household electrical goods and components, fragrances, cosmetics, and hygiene products.

In fact, only 5 months after the EVFTA took effect, many key export agricultural and forestry products of Vietnam have experienced significant growth compared to the same period in 2019, specifically: (i) rubber products reached 61 million USD, up 56.91%; (ii) rice reached 5.2 million USD, up 3.73; (iii) rattan, bamboo, sedge and carpet products reached USD 70.5 million, up 33.75%; (iv) vegetables and fruits reached USD 63.8 million, up 12.5%.