Research on Vietnam - Egypt free trade agreement

TPO - Vietnam and Egypt have just agreed to establish a Joint Working Group on the feasibility study of the Vietnam - Egypt Free Trade Agreement (FTA), contributing to promoting trade and investment between the two countries in a balanced direction.

The above information was announced by the Ministry of Industry and Trade after the meeting of Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang with the leaders of the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, on the occasion of accompanying President Luong Cuong on a State visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt.

At the meeting, Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang said that Vietnam always attaches importance to and highly appreciates the leading role and position of Egypt in the North African region in particular and Africa in general. Egypt is currently Vietnam's largest trade partner in the North African region with a trade volume of more than 472 million USD in 2024.

According to Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang, the import-export structure of goods between the two countries is not competitive but complementary, so the two countries still have a lot of potential and room to further promote the scale of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, including cooperation in the fields of industry, agriculture, investment and logistics.

Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang worked with leaders of the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade.

Based on the proposal of the Vietnamese side, the two sides agreed to strengthen coordination in organizing trade and investment promotion activities, thereby contributing to expanding the scale and aiming towards balancing the bilateral trade balance.

On this occasion, the Egyptian side announced its plan to organize a business delegation to Vietnam in 2025 and requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to coordinate in organizing bilateral trade and investment promotion activities.

Mr. Hassan El Khatib - Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Egypt - highly appreciated the friendly cooperation between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic relations (1959) until now and the economic development of Vietnam in recent years, and introduced the advantages and potential for cooperation of Egypt such as: important geographical location, many economic agreements signed with the European Union, with large African countries, potential for developing logistics, renewable energy, oil and gas, industries (textiles, fertilizers, chemicals...).

At the meeting, the two sides agreed to establish a Joint Working Group on the feasibility study of the Vietnam - Egypt FTA with the task of researching and evaluating the benefits that the FTA can bring to both sides, contributing to promoting trade and investment between the two countries in a balanced direction.

The two sides also agreed to coordinate to organize the 3rd meeting of the Subcommittee on Bilateral Trade and Industry Cooperation this year (expected in the fourth quarter of 2025) in Vietnam to discuss specific cooperation contents in the fields of trade and investment in the industrial sector.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in 2024, Vietnam's total import-export turnover with Egypt will reach 472.6 million USD, an increase of 9.4% compared to 2023.

In the first 6 months of 2025, Vietnam's import-export turnover with Egypt reached 266.9 million USD, up 8% over the same period last year, of which Vietnam's exports to Egypt reached 266.9 million USD, up 8%.

Vietnam's export groups to Egypt include: Coffee reaching 39.8 million USD, phones of all kinds and components reaching 37.7 million USD, means of transport and spare parts reaching 34.2 million USD, computers, electronic products and components, seafood reaching 22 million USD, pepper reaching 20.9 million USD...

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nghien-cuu-hiep-dinh-thuong-mai-tu-do-viet-nam-ai-cap-post1766715.tpo