EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement goes through Czech lower house

The Chamber of Deputies (Lower House) of the Parliament of the Czech Republic has passed a resolution supporting some international agreements, including the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), according to public broadcaster Česká Televise.

Once the EVFTA comes into force, the EU will eliminate import duties on nearly 86 percent of tariff lines for Vietnam and over 99 percent after seven years.

The EVIPA was adopted by the Czech Senate in late January this year.

The Czech government evaluated that the EVIPA, along with the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), will contribute to the liberalisation of investment environment and enhancement of economic and trade cooperation with Vietnam.

According to statistics of the Czech government, Czech companies have so far invested in 34 projects worth 90 million USD in Vietnam, focusing on banking and production. Tourism is also a promising area.

The European Parliament (EP) on February 12 approved the EVFTA and EVIPA at a plenary session in Strasbourg, France.

These are important decisions that were much expected by 27 EU member states and Vietnam, especially the business community, after nearly eight years since the two sides started negotiating the EVFTA in June 2012.

Once the EVFTA comes into force, the EU will eliminate import duties on nearly 86 percent of tariff lines for Vietnam and over 99 percent after seven years.

Vice versa, Vietnam will remove import duties on 48.5 percent of tariff lines for the EU, 91.8 percent after seven years, and 98.3 percent after 10 years./.

VNA