Strong Vietnam-EU trade growth as EVFTA boosts market share

At the 2025 Vietnam Trade Counselors’ Conference, held on the afternoon of December 30, Tran Ngoc Quan, Trade Counselor of Vietnam in Belgium and the EU, said that according to Eurostat, Vietnam is currently the EU’s 17th largest trading partner, the 11th largest non-EU import partner, and the EU’s largest trade partner within ASEAN. Vietnam has also consistently recorded trade surpluses with the EU over the years. Vietnam’s share in total EU imports has grown steadily, reaching 2.28% in 2024 and rising further to 2.49% in the first nine months of 2025.

At present, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) continues to serve as a vital bridge, elevating bilateral trade relations to a new level. Vietnam has emerged as the EU’s leading trading partner in ASEAN and its 11th largest supplier to the EU market.

Data for the first nine months of 2025 show robust growth in Vietnam-EU trade, with total two-way turnover reaching EUR 53.62 billion, up 13.3% year-on-year. Alongside machinery and electrical equipment, exports of agricultural products such as coffee and cashew nuts to the EU also recorded positive growth.

However, Tran Ngoc Quan noted that the EU is tightening domestic market protection measures to safeguard its interests under the EVFTA and expand its market share. Vietnamese enterprises therefore need to proactively adapt by strengthening quality control, managing residue levels of exported goods, preventing trade fraud, and combating transshipment of goods from third countries through Vietnam to the EU.

Addressing the conference on attracting high-quality EU investment into Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy said EU companies are no longer seeking merely low-cost production locations, but rather strategic links within global value chains and distribution systems. This opens an important approach for Vietnam linking domestic production with the global distribution networks of multinational corporations.

When EU companies with global distribution systems invest in production in Vietnam, “Made in Vietnam” products are not exported to just a few individual markets, but are integrated directly into the corporations’ worldwide distribution networks, enhancing brand image, increasing product value, and ensuring stable export growth, she said.

Citing the LEGO manufacturing project in Binh Duong Province with an investment exceeding USD 1 billion, Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy assessed that the project represents a critical link in the group’s global production and distribution chain, reinforcing Vietnam’s role as a strategic manufacturing hub for EU enterprises.

Similarly, Swedish corporations such as IKEA and H&M have organized production in Vietnam and integrated “Made in Vietnam” products directly into their global distribution systems, linking domestic manufacturing closely with international supply chains and markets.

According to Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy, many Nordic enterprises in technology, automation, industrial equipment, pharmaceuticals and healthcare are expanding their presence in Vietnam, spanning manufacturing, workforce training, technology transfer and the adoption of advanced governance standards. These projects help strengthen Vietnam’s industrial foundation, raise localization rates and enable deeper participation in higher value-added segments of global value chains.

Sharing experience on market access and sustainable trade promotion in Singapore, Cao Xuan Thang said Singapore places strong emphasis on relationships, credibility and long-term trust. Accordingly, the Vietnam Trade Office maintains close and regular engagement with host-country authorities, while supporting association and business delegations often involving regulators to visit Vietnam for inspection, assessment and licensing.

For poultry meat and eggs, the Trade Office has sustained close cooperation with the Singapore Food Agency, the authority responsible for market access approvals. For rice, persistent advocacy since 2022 included inviting the Singapore Food Agency to the Hau Giang Rice Festival in 2023 and coordinating with the Singapore Rice Association and major importers. As a result, Vietnam and Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding on rice trade in 2025.

In communications and outreach, the Trade Office has worked closely with domestic and host-country media. In 2025 alone, searches for the keyword “Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore” generated over 5,000 news articles, helping spread positive images of Vietnam.

Strengthening coordination, enhancing the role of trade offices

According to trade counselors, overseas trade office operations still face constraints, particularly in human resources and inter-agency coordination. To address these challenges, Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy emphasized the importance of stronger coordination among trade offices, ministries, agencies and localities at home to ensure high-quality investment projects are effectively attracted and implemented, generating spillover effects in technology, governance and sustainable development.

Alongside coordination, Vietnamese enterprises need to clearly identify strategic and priority markets. Defining key sectors and value chains for investment attraction is essential for selecting suitable partners aligned with Vietnam’s industrialization, modernization and green transition goals.

Vietnam’s overseas trade office network should continue to act as a strategic bridge not only for trade promotion but also for investment promotion in sectors under the purview of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam by early identification of investment trends, direct engagement with major corporations, and consistent communication of Vietnam’s development orientation, she recommended.

On the afternoon of December 30 in Hanoi, the Ministry of Industry and Trade held the 2025 Vietnam Trade Counselors’ Conference with the participation of ministry leaders, representatives of major groups, enterprises and industry associations, as well as all Vietnamese trade counselors, heads of trade offices and overseas trade office branches.

The conference took place amid increasingly complex global economic and trade developments, marked by heightened strategic competition among major powers, rising trade protectionism, supply chain fragmentation, and growing requirements related to sustainable development, green transition and digital transformation factors that are exerting profound impacts on Vietnam’s export-import activities and market development efforts.