Vietnam is always an attractive investment destination for French investors because of its political stability, rapid growth and young, skilled workforce, said Mr. Philippe Yvergniaux, Director of International Cooperation Department of Business France in a conference on business and investment opportunities between Vietnam – France, taking place on Oct 20 in Paris.

Vietnam’s maintaining high and stable growth in the future is a good opportunity for French businesses to promote cooperation with Vietnam.

The conference is a part of national trade promotion, held simultaneously with SIAL trade fair program. Its purpose is to promote Vietnamese brands; to link Vietnamese enterprises with French enterprises; to boost export and expand market share (especially processed agricultural products), to call for collaboration, investment and business.

The workshop was organized by Department of Trade Promotion (Ministry of Commerce) in collaboration with Vietnam Embassy in France, attracting the participation of representatives of the authorities and more than 60 enterprises of the two countries on production and export of agricultural, forest products.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Philippe Yvergniaux said despite many strengths in technology, France is not yet the leading Europe country in investment and trade in Vietnam. There are over 2000 French export companies to Vietnam, but mostly small and medium enterprises.

Mr. Philippe added, Vietnam’s maintaining high and stable growth in the future is a good opportunity for French businesses to promote cooperation with Vietnam. Vietnam has many advantages over other market, especially political stability and high growth rates. To keep attraction, Vietnam should continue to modernize the state apparatus, reform state-owned enterprises, improve the quality of vocational training and environmental protection. Meanwhile, French companies should take advantage of opportunities to invest and expand its presence in Vietnam.

Speaking at the conference, Nguyen Manh Thang Minister Counsellor of Vietnam Embassy in France stressed that economic cooperation and trade between Vietnam and France had achieved impressive results. France ranks third among European countries to export to Vietnam, after Germany and Italy. Meanwhile, Vietnam has been the top ASEAN country in this connection since 2014. With its strategic location, Vietnam is expected to create a dynamic, attractive environment for business and commerce, connecting countries within and outside the region.

By 2015, the total export turnover of Vietnam to France reached about EUR 2.63 billion, comprising of products such as electronic devices, furniture, coffee and seafood. French exports to Vietnam reached EUR1.13 billion, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery, milk and dairy products, and cosmetics. In the agricultural sector alone, French exports to Vietnam reached EUR 133 million.

During the first nine months of 2016, French enterprises have invested in 26 new projects and added investment capital into 7 projects, with total newly registered and added capital is USD139.06 million, up 55% compared to same period of 2015. According to the Department of Foreign Investment, up to date, there are 1,710 projects from 22 European countries in Vietnam with total registered capital of USD 21,48 billion. In which France ranks third with 450 projects and USD 3.4 billion of investment.

When EVFTA takes effect in 2018, Vietnam has commits to eliminate tariffs for EU goods according to 65% of total tariff lines in the tariff schedule. In return, the EU will do the same for Vietnam goods with 85 % of tariff lines in the tariff schedule, equivalent to 70.3% of export turnover of Vietnam to the EU./.

Ngoc Tran