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Vietnam

Vietnam signed a fairly comprehensive bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United States in 2000. It came into force in 2001. The BTA was part of the post-war "trade normalisation" process between the two countries and should be seen as strong precursor to a watertight US FTA. In June 2007, Hanoi and Washington signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, yet another step towards a possible FTA. And in December 2008, the two governments began negotiating a hardcore bilateral investment treaty (BIT), yet another.

In January 2007, Hanoi and Tokyo began talks towards a Japan-Vietnam deal, which was finally signed in December 2008. Shortly after, Vietnam began talks with Chile, with the FTA signed in 2011. Hanoi already signed an FTA with Israel back in 2004 and may join the TPP. It is also intending to negotiate FTAs with EFTA, Russia and Mexico

As a member of ASEAN, Vietnam is caught up in the bloc’s regional FTA dealings with Korea, the EU, China, Japan and India. The Vietnamese government has also signed a number of bilateral intellectual property and science & technology agreements with industrialised countries, as well as more than 30 BITs.

last update: May 2012
Photo: Phó Nháy/Wikimedia


Revisions needed in IP compliance
Revision of the legal framework on intellectual property is recommended to ensure compliance with the EU – Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement.
SMEs need support to benefit from free trade pacts
Domestic small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) need close co-operation from public offices in getting information about regulations of free trade agreements (FTAs) for getting more benefits from the agreements.
Trade-friendly Vietnam now offers far more than just low-cost labor
Chairman of the EU-ASEAN Business Council explains why foreign investors are interested in Vietnam
Pact on free trade between Viet Nam, S Korea takes effect
The RoK projects are mainly poured into industrial processing and manufacturing, real estate, retail and wholesale, and construction, with total investment exceeding $5 billion.
L’accord de libre-échange Vietnam-R​. de Corée entre en vigueur
Les investissements​ de la Corée concernent principalement la transformation et la fabrication industrielle, l’immobilier, la vente au détail et en gros, et la construction, avec une somme totale de plus de 5 milliards de dollars.
S Korea ratifies VN trade deal
South Korea’s National Assembly officially adopted a free trade agreement with Viet Nam.
Vietnam to lose $77 million of tax revenue each year due to free trade pacts
The government has estimated that it will lose around US$77 million of tax revenue annually between 2016 and 2025, when new free trade agreements take effect and eliminate a majority of import duties.
Chicken war with US shows free trade threat to Vietnamese farmers
Hanoi chicken farmer Nguyen Huu Tuyen blames inexpensive poultry imported from the US for the loss of almost $14,000 this year.
In hurrying trade deal with Vietnam, the EU is bypassing its human rights obligations
FIDH and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights said that if finalised without conducting a human-rights impact assessment and without introducing the necessary human rights safeguards, the EU-Vietnam Free trade and investment agreement would be concluded in violation of EU law.
L’Afrique du Sud souhaite renforcer son commerce avec le Vietnam
Durant son séjour en Afrique du Sud, le vice-Premier ministre vietnamien Hoàng Trung Haile et le vice-président sud-africain Cyril Ramaphosa ont discuté du renforcement de leur coopération dans l’économie, le commerce et l’investissement