The EP's plenary session in Strasbourg, France (Photo:VNA) (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Media reports in the Czech Republic have highlighted the importance of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) for the country and the EU in general after the agreement was approved by the European Parliament (EP) on February 12.
Articles on the websites ihned.cz and E15.cz quoted parliamentarian Dita Charanzová, Vice President of the EP as saying that the European Commission (EC) has successfully negotiated a quality agreement, helping open a new market for Czech businesses.
Charanzová also stressed the significance of the trade agreement to the Czech Republic’s export-based economy because the European country is part of the global production line.
In his article on ihned.cz, reporter Ondrej Houska said the EVFTA will bring great benefits to Czech companies because under the agreement, almost all tariff barriers will be gradually removed.
According to the foreign ministry of the Czech Republic, the EVFTA will help the country’s exports of mechanical products to Vietnam increase by more than one third in the coming years, and it will also enable Czech firms to have access to Vietnam’s public procurement service.
The Czech Republic is one of the EU member states that actively support free trade, it added.
Meanwhile, E15.cz said the EVFTA is considered the most comprehensive agreement signed by the EU with a developing country.
The website novinky.cz cited information posted on the EC’s Twitter account saying the commission welcomes the EP’s approval of the EVFTA and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
Immediately after taking effect, the EVFTA will facilitate trade growth, create more jobs, and promote economic growth for both sides by removing 99 percent of all tariff lines, it said.
In Germany, after the two agreements were approved, key local news agencies, newspapers, televisions and radio stations also reported on the event.
ZDF Television said with the support of a majority of parliamentarians in Strasbourg of France, the EP gave the green light for the EVFTA, helping remove tariff barriers between the two sides.
Meanwhile, the Tagesspiegel newspaper ran an article describing the booming socio-economic development in Vietnam. It cited data from the World Bank as saying that in the 2002-2018 period, 45 million Vietnamese people escaped from poverty.
According to German media, with the EP’s approval of the EVFTA, the last real barrier to this trade agreement has been lifted, opening up huge opportunities for German and European businesses./.
VNA
