Viet Nam prepares for signing trade deal with European Free Trade Area

The proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Justice for appraisal. Then, it wil lbe submitted to the Government for consideration of the signing of the agreement.

Negotiations on the Viet Nam–EFTA FTA, known as VEFTA, were launched in 2012. Following more than 14 years of negotiations and 21 official negotiating rounds, the two sides have concluded discussions on the full text of the agreement.

EFTA comprises Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The agreement is expected to help Viet Nam diversify its export markets and create new opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to expand their presence in markets with high purchasing power.

The proposed agreement covers a wide range of areas, including trade in goods and services, investment, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade facilitation, government procurement, intellectual property, competition, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and sustainable development.

More than 90 percent of EFTA tariff lines to be liberalized immediately

Under the agreement, EFTA members have committed to immediately liberalizing more than 90 percent of tariff lines, covering 99.5 percent of Viet Nam's exports to the bloc.

EFTA will also eliminate tariffs immediately on all industrial products, including seafood.

As a result, major Vietnamese export items such as textiles and garments, footwear, seafood, computers, electronic products and components, machinery and equipment will benefit from immediate tariff elimination.

EFTA will also reduce tariffs on a number of major Vietnamese agricultural products, including rice, honey, fruits and vegetables.

For its part, Viet Nam has offered to eliminate tariffs on more than 86% of tariff lines, equivalent to 99.9 percent of imports from EFTA, either immediately or according to reduction schedules ranging from three to 15 years.

Significant room to expand exports and investment

Vietnamese exports to the EFTA market with good turnover and growth in 2024–2025 included seafood, with export value exceeding US$52 million; footwear, more than US$49 million; machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts; means of transport; computers, electronic products and components, more than US$40 million; and textiles and garments, more than US$26 million.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam mainly imports from EFTA products serving domestic production, including machinery and equipment, electrical and mechanical products, chemicals, seafood materials and pharmaceuticals.

In investment cooperation, Switzerland and Norway are the two EFTA members with significant investment ties with Viet Nam.

As of the end of 2025, Switzerland had 234 valid investment projects in Viet Nam with total registered capital of more than US$2.4 billion, ranking 20th among 153 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam.

Norway had 62 valid projects with total registered capital of US$201.57 million, ranking 40th among 153 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the signing of the agreement is expected to help diversify export markets for Vietnamese enterprises and facilitate greater access for Vietnamese goods to markets with high purchasing power and stringent quality standards.

The EFTA bloc has annual import turnover of around US$630 billion, while imports from Viet Nam currently account for only about 0.65 percent, indicating substantial potential for further growth.

The agreement is also expected to attract high-quality investment from EFTA countries into sectors prioritized by Viet Nam, including high technology, processing and manufacturing, clean energy, green transition, innovation and human resource development./.