The Vietnam-EU Trade Forum is expected to take place on October 27 in Hanoi.

Although Vietnam has dealt with previous COVID-19 outbreak with spectacular success, it stands to lose some of its hard-earned gains if it cannot overcome the latest outbreak that has paralysed industries in the past couple of months.

While concerns over interruption of global supply chains linger due to serious outbreaks of COVID-19, Vietnam is attempting to remain on the front foot with continued business confidence and inflow of foreign investment.

After suffering a significant fall in revenue last year, the mechanical engineering industry has high hopes for recovery in 2021, given Vietnam’s good COVID-19 control and participation in free trade agreements.

Vietnam has worked to develop the domestic market with a population of nearly 100 million people in the context that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global supply chains, said Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

Vietnamese companies need to meet the requirements of foreign firms if they want to participate in global supply chains from mid-2021 when the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to be under control, experts said.

 Local producers must prepare to meet the requirements of foreign direct investment (FDI) companies to participate in the global supply chains, a top official has said.

The European Union (EU)-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is expected to trigger high-quality FDI flows from Europe to the Southeast Asian country, said Vietnamese Trade Counsellor in Italy Nguyen Duc Thanh.

In early February, in the minds of most of us, COVID-19 was still a China-specific problem. Yet, the strict lockdown imposed early in China generated rapidly unprecedented chaos in global supply chains. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on supply chains globally, logistics firms in Vietnam have experienced decline in revenue but are mustering the strength to overcome the challenges ahead.

Many Vietnamese companies in supporting industries that can produce high-quality parts are nevertheless struggling to enter large international supply chains or are only able to supply low-value items to them.

 More and more local small and medium-sized enterprises are aiming to join the global supply chains of multinational corporations.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement is expected to add 30 per cent to Vietnam's GDP over the next 10 years,