Speaking at a press conference on October 22, Vice President of the European Commission (EC) Margaritis Schinas affirmed that Vietnam is a reliable partner and has a special role for the EU in the region.
“The EU-Vietnam cooperation is considered a model success story as Vietnam is the EU's leading trading partner in Southeast Asia with bilateral trade turnover increasing by 40% over the past four years,” he shared.
Based on those achievements, the two sides have great room to elevate the current cooperative relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, said the Vice President of the European Commission (EC).
Potential timing
Sharing about the potential timing for the two sides to reach this new milestone, Mr. Margaritis Schinas revealed that the official visit to Vietnam scheduled for April 2025 by EC President Ursula von der Leyen could be suitable. On the other hand, 2025 is also an important milestone to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam - EU relations.
“The fundamentals are all in place,” said the EC Vice President.
In a positive atmosphere, Mr. Margaritis Schinas shared, not only from the governments of both sides but also from Vietnamese businesses and youth, through investment promotion activities, educational events or support for victims of the recent typhoon Yagi. "The parties have a very high assessment of the prospects for this," he said.
The EC Vice President also noted that Vietnam has shown significant signs of improvement in its efforts to address remaining issues such as illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing to move towards removing the “yellow card”. The legal system has made progress, the remaining issue is to monitor enforcement and have appropriate sanctions to resolve it. “We are on the right track,” he said.
On the other hand, EVFTA is a great success story, but there are still some problems in the automotive industry, the issue of agricultural quarantine licensing, requiring efforts from both sides to move forward to create conditions to upgrade the relationship to a new level.
Three key areas
According to the EC Vice President, once this milestone is realized, there are three areas that will witness significant increased cooperation and benefits.
The first is green growth. Many EU businesses have recognized that investing in Vietnam brings not only economic benefits but also reduces environmental impacts. The EU will continue to invest in Vietnam's economic development in this area, especially with a new tool - the Global Gateway initiative, which facilitates the mobilization of finance from the public and private sectors to develop the green economy.
The second issue that both the EU and Vietnam are very concerned about is climate change response. EU member states will continue to coordinate the implementation of important initiatives in this area, as well as the development of renewable energy, within the framework of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
Third is the field of education, skills training, and research exchange. Upgrading relations will create opportunities for young Vietnamese people to continue to deepen their research and study through programs at training institutions in the EU, such as Erasmus+ (the European Union's program to enhance cooperation and transformation in education, training, youth and sports).
Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/tiet-lo-thoi-diem-tiem-nang-viet-nam-va-eu-nang-cap-quan-he.html
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