HCMC – Enterprises from the European Union invested more than US$22 billion into Vietnam from January to September 2021, increasing by nearly half a billion compared to the same period last year despite the negative impact of the fourth Covid-19 wave in the country.
According to a report on socio-economic development the Government recently submitted to the National Assembly, as of late September, 26 of 27 EU member states invested in 2,242 projects in Vietnam, up 164 projects compared to the same period in 2020. Their registered capital totaled US$22.24 billion, increasing by US$483 million year on year.
The Netherlands was Vietnam’s biggest EU investor in January-September, with 382 projects worth a total of US$10.4 billion, accounting for 46.5% of the EU’s investment into Vietnam.
France ranked second with investment worth US$3.62 billion in the nine months, followed by Germany with US$2.25 billion.
The biggest companies of the EU member states that are operating in Vietnam include the Shell Group (the Netherlands), Total Elf Fina (France-Belgium), Daimler Chrysler (Germany), Siemens and Alcatel Comvik (Sweden).
The sectors that attracted the most investments from the EU were hi-tech, postal services, communications, finance, retail, clean energy, supporting industries, food processing, hi-tech agriculture and medicines.
Two-way trade between Vietnam and the EU also saw positive achievements after the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA) took effect. One year after the agreement came into force, the two-way trade reached US$54.6 billion, increasing nearly 12% year-on-year.
From January to July 2021, the Vietnam-EU trade reached US$32.4 billion, increasing 18% year-on-year. Vietnam exported goods worth US$22.81 billion to the EU, up 17% year-on-year, and spent over US$9.6 billion on imports from the EU, up 19% year-on-year.
Vietnam’s key exports to the EU included phones and phone parts, computers, electronic products and accessories, footwear, textiles and garments, machinery, equipment, tools, steel and iron products.
On the other hand, Vietnam spent the most on computers, electronic products, machinery, tools, equipment, medicines and chemicals from the EU.
The EVFTA was signed on June 30, 2019, and took effect on August 1, 2020. The agreement eliminates over 99% of all tariffs between Vietnam and the EU and partly abolishes the rest through limited zero-duty quotas.
