BusinessMin Oprea: Romanian entrepreneurs should get our of their comfort zone, which is EU

An active presence and increasingly clear of the Romanian companies on the market in Vietnam is necessary and the Romanian entrepreneurs should get out of their comfort zone and stop doing business in the European Union only, Minister of Business Enviroinment, Trade and Entrepreneurship Stefan-Radu Oprea stated on Friday at the Romania-Vietnam Business Forum organised in Bucharest. 

"The agreements signed in June between the European Union and Vietnam, with Romania's signature on them, are the most ambitious for a developing country. We are starting to be in the dynamic that we needed and an active presence, increasingly clear of the Romanian companies is necessary on the market in Vietnam. Leaving the comfort zone, of what means easily doing business with the European Union should be for the Romanian entrepreneurs one of the main directions of action. You know very well that 75 percent of Romania's export is on the relation with the European Union, 10 percent on the relation with countries in Europe which are not members of the Union and only 15 percent represents the other side of the world," Oprea stated. 

He added that due to the economic growth registered in Romania and Vietnam, the two states are compatible in terms of resuming the trade relations. 

On 30 June 2019, in Hanoi, the EU and Vietnam signed two agreements: a free trade agreement and an investment protection agreement. 

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement stipulates the almost complete elimination (99 percent) of customs duties between the two block and 65 percent of duties on EU exports to Vietnam will disappear as soon as the document enters into force, with the rest, following to be gradually eliminate over a period of 10 years. 

Vietnam is the second trade partner of the EU within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Singapore, with trade in goods worth 47.6 billion US dollars per year and 3.6 billion US dollars when it comes to services. While EU investment stocks in Vietnam remain low, standing at 8.3 billion euro in 2016, an increasing number of European companies are establishing there to cover the Mekong region. 

The main EU imports from Vietnam include telecommunications equipment, clothing and food products. The EU mainly exports to Vietnam goods such as machinery and transport equipment, chemicals and agricultural products. 

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR), in partnership with the Ministry for Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship, the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam organise on On Friday the Romania-Vietnam Business Forum. 

The Romania-Vietnam Forum takes places on the sidelines of the 16th session of the Romania-Vietnam Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation.