After two years of talks, Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), comprising of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, have recently signed a free trade agreement (FTA), making it the first international partner to sign the deal with the Union. The new trade deal is quite comprehensive covering trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property, origin regulations, custom facilitation, technical barriers to trade, competition, legality and institution among others.
Vietnamese business will have a good chance to expand its exports markets as the EEU will eliminate tariffs imposed on some of the country’s key export items such as garments. The agreement will play an important role in the growth of a number of former Soviet states towards a uniformed economic space. The FTA is expected to boost Vietnam’s exports, including textile and garments.
After China, Vietnam is the second largest textile and garment exporter to South Korea. According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VINATEX), South Korea imported US $ 627.4 million in textiles and garments from Vietnam in the first four months of this year. The turnover marks an increase of 8.25% over the same period last year. After the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA), Vietnam’s textile and garment industry saw significant growth. According to its open-access commitment, Vietnamese textile and garment products that satisfy certificate of origin norms will enjoy zero tariffs once the agreement takes effect from January 1, 2016. Currently, Vietnamese firms pay a tax of 8 to 13%. It is forecast that textile and garment turnover in the South Korean market could reach US $ 16.3 billion for 2015, increasing 11.6% year-on-year.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
