The European Union is committed to providing 400 million EUR for Vietnam over the next six years, according to the 2015 White Book on Trade, Investment Issues and Recommendations that was released in Hanoi on December 1.

The launch of the book, the seventh edition of its kind, is the end result of work conducted over the course of the year by the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) and its members, to identify investment and trade issues affecting Vietnamese business climate and give recommendations.

The content of the book covers a number of major industries that EuroCham’s almost 800 members operate in, including agricultural business and food safety, banking and finance, fast-moving consumer goods, information technology, tourism and hospitality.

The book remarked that the EU is the second largest trade partner of Vietnam with a total trade of 24.2 billion EUR.

Over the last 12 months, EuroCham has observed and welcomed effort and reforms that have been initiated by the Vietnamese government, yet there is more to be done to both secure the achievements and realise further investment and trade in the market, its press release said.

The 2014-2015 World Economic Forum (WEF) report showed that Vietnam improved its overall global competitiveness ranking from 70th place to 68th this year.-VNA