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ABU DHABI, 6th April, 2023 (WAM) — The UAE and Vietnam have signed a joint statement of intent aimed at launching negotiations to establish a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, CEPA, between the two countries. The statement was signed by Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade; Nguyễn Hồng Diên, Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, during a Vietnamese delegation’s visit to the UAE.
During his meeting with the Vietnamese minister, Al Zeyoudi highlighted the strong and solid bilateral relations between the UAE and Vietnam, which continue to grow in various fields, especially trade and economy. The launch of the CEPA negotiations is the result of the common desire of the two governments to elevate the existing trade and economic relations to new heights.
Al Zeyoudi said: “The UAE is Vietnam’s largest Arab trading partner, accounting for 39% of Vietnam’s total trade with Arab countries. In 2022, the non-oil trade volume between the two countries will reach 29.4 billion dirhams (about 8 billion U.S. dollars). The value of trade in goods other than accessories and accessories grew from less than 36% in 2019 to 46%, promising. Last year totaled 13.5 billion dirhams (more than 3.5 billion US dollars), an increase of 9% over 2021, compared with 2020 and 2019 Year-on-year growth of 34% and 26% respectively.”
He added: “We look forward to strengthening our economic and trade partnerships through the UAE’s Global Economic Partnership programme, especially as Vietnam will be our largest trading partner in ASEAN by 2022. We are pleased to start the process of signing CEPA. This agreement will boost economic and trade cooperation in an unprecedented way, support private sector access to both markets, and drive new investment opportunities, thereby increasing trade exchanges.”
The two sides emphasized that with the advancement of the CEPA process, they will promote cooperation in trade, investment, economy, industry, energy, logistics, agriculture, infrastructure and other fields. During the meeting, Al Zeyoudi highlighted the UAE’s success in creating an environment full of promising investment opportunities in various sectors. He noted that the comprehensive development of the UAE’s economic legislation has enabled full foreign ownership of companies and significantly improved the ease of doing business, strengthening the country’s position as a global center for trade and investment.
In addition, Al Zeyoudi urged the Vietnamese private sector to take advantage of the UAE’s NextGenFDI program, which offers a wide range of incentives for participants. These include relocation support; easy access to bank financing and commercial and residential rental incentives; expedited business set-up process and issuance of permits, visas and golden visas, ensuring smoother market entry for management and staff.
Vietnam’s trade minister, Nguyen Hong Dien, said the agreement brought great “potential and opportunities” to both countries. The UAE has advantages as a transshipment, financial and logistics hub, while Vietnam is becoming a factory for many important global industries.”
“The combination of the two countries’ competitive advantages will create momentum for trade and investment growth in the near future,” he said. The ministers announced that Vietnam has completed a feasibility study on a future agreement, which they consider important preparations before deciding to start negotiations. He said Vietnam also appreciated the timely discussion by the technical team on the draft terms of reference (TOR) of the agreement, which means that the two sides can enter the substantive negotiation stage as soon as the leaders approve the negotiating mandate.
The UAE’s total investment in Vietnam is AED 260 million (US$ 71 million). Major UAE companies investing in the Vietnamese market include DP World, Emirates Investment Authority, Mubadala and Borouge.
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