EU senior officials including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are set to go on a scoping trip to intensify trade bonds with Vietnam five years after signing a free trade agreement with the south-east Asian country.
ADVERTISEMENTUrsula von der Leyen will travel to Vietnam in the coming months, the Commission President’s spokesperson has confirmed, as the executive seeks to pin down trade ties with third countries against a fraught geopolitical backdrop.
“There are plans to visit Vietnam notably to strengthen economic ties,” EU chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said, adding that no date had been set for the trip yet.
Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and International Partnerships Commissioner Jozef Síkela are currently also slated to travel to Vietnam in April, according to Eurocham, the European chamber of commerce in Vietnam, to mark the 35th anniversary of EU-Vietnam diplomatic relations and five years after signing a free trade agreement with Vietnam.
The EU will be looking to deepen its trade partnership in the largest trading partner of the EU among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In 2024, the total trade flows between the EU and Vietnam amounted to €68 billion.
The country’s strategic mineral wealth will also be a pull for the EU which has clinched deals over critical minerals with Argentina, Australia, Chile, Rwanda, Ukraine and Uzbekistan in a diplomatic and political effort to reduce its dependency over China.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), in 2022 Vietnam was the world’s second greatest producer of tungsten. It also possesses important deposits of rare earths – for which it is ranked sixth in the world – essential for the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels.
“”Vietnam is interested in exporting minerals while still prioritising their domestic refining to enhance their added value before export,” Eurocham’s vice-chairman Jean-Jacques Bouflet told Euronews.
The exploitation of certain minerals such as lithium could be the subject of cooperation with Europe.
In recent months the EU has reached free trade deals with Mercosur countries -Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – and Switzerland, Mexico and has relaunched trade negotiations with India.
For its part Vietnam might be interested in European weaponry since it has been reducing its dependence on Russian supplies since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The EU is one of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam. It exports mainly high-tech products, aircraft, vehicles and pharmaceutical products, and imports electronics, footwear, textile, clothing, coffee and rice.
The trade agreement signed in 2019 entered into force in 2020 but the investment protection agreement also signed in 2019 has not yet been ratified by nine EU member states.
“Many European companies want to settle in Vietnam to benefit from a highly competitive workforce,” Bouflet added. The investment agreement would allow European companies to invest in the country on an equal footing with local businesses.
