In November 1990: Viet Nam and the European Community (EC) officially established diplomatic relations. In 1996: EC set up its Delegation in Viet Nam. I. POLITICAL COOPERATION: 1. EU-Viet Nam Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA) (entered into force from October 2016): • On June 27, 2012, Viet Namese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton officially signed the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between Viet Nam and EU and its member states (Brussels, Belgium). • On November 1, 2013, Viet Namese President Trương Tấn Sang ratified PCA . • On September 29, 2016, EU sent a note verbale to the Ministry of Foreign affairs of Viet Nam noticing the EU’s completion of PCA ratification. • On October 1, 2016, PCA entered into force, marking an important milestone in the Viet Nam-EU relationship and creating a legal basis for strengthening and broadening the two sides’ cooperation. 2. Exchange of high-level visits: Leaders of the two sides regularly exchange high-level visits and meetings on the sidelines of multilateral forums and conferences (Appendix 2). 3. Cooperation mechanism: 3.1. Viet Nam - EU Political Consultations at Vice-Ministerial Level: Since 2012, Viet Nam and the EU have agreed to hold the annual Political Consultation at Vice-Ministerial Level, rotating in Hanoi and Brussels (Belgium). The discussion of the Consultation focused on three main contents: (1) bilateral relations; (2) global issues and (3) regional situation. 3.2. The Viet Nam - EC Joint Commission: The Viet Nam-EU Framework Cooperation Agreement (FCA) was signed on July 7, 1995 and entered into force on June 1, 1996. The Viet Nam – EC Commission, established in the framework of FCA 1995, is a forum for both sides to discuss the implementation of cooperation programs between Viet Nam and EU. The Joint Commission meets once every two years and is co-chaired by the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Viet Nam and the Executive General Director of the European Union External Action Service (EEAS). The two sides have conducted 09 meetings. At present, the two sides are working to set up the Viet Nam-EU Joint Committee to implement the PCA, replacing the EC-Viet Nam Joint Commission. 3.3. The Annual Human Rights Dialogue between Viet Nam - EU: Since December 2011, the human rights dialogue mechanism has been held once a year, alternating between Hanoi and Brussels (Belgium). The first dialogue was held in January 2012 in Hanoi and the 6th Dialogue took place in December 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. 4. Multilateral Cooperation: Viet Nam and EU are coordinating in many multilateral forums and international organizations, especially within the framework of ASEAN-EU cooperation mechanism, ASEM and the United Nations in order to tackle global issues such as climate change, sustainable development, energy security, anti-terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, illegal migration ... II. ECONOMIC COOPERATION : 1. Trade: In 2016, the EU was the second largest trading partner (after China) and the second largest export market (after the US) of Viet Nam. Bilateral trade volume in 2016 reached US $ 45.1 billion, up nearly 10 times compared to that in 2001 and 7.9% compared to that in 2015. In the first seven months of 2017, the two-way trade volume reached US $ 28.2 billion, an increase of 14% over the same period in 2016, of which Viet Nam's exports to the EU increased by 12.6%, making the EU the second largest market to bring trade surplus to Viet Nam. Viet Nam's main exports are textiles, footwear, coffee, seafood, computers, telephones, etc. The Viet Nam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA): On June 26, 2012, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and EU the Trade Commissioner Alain Gut officially announced the conclusion of the EVFTA negotiations. . • On December 2, 2015, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and EC Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom signed the Declaration on the formal conclusion of the EVFTA negotiations. • The two sides are currently finalizing the technical issues to proceed to the official signing. 2. Investment: As of June 15, 2017, 24 of the 28 EU countries invested in Viet Nam with 1975 active projects with total registered capital of $ 21.7 billion, ranking fifth among the largest foreign investors in Viet Nam (after Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan). Among the EU investors in Viet Nam, in terms of investment value, the Netherlands is the biggest investor, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg, Germany, etc... EU investment mainly focuses on high-tech industry, however, has recently tended to increase investment in services (such as telecommunication, finance, office leasing, retail). Some big EU corporations are operating in Viet Nam such as BP (United Kingdom), Shell Group (Netherlands), Total Elf Fina (France), Daimler Chrysler (Germany), Siemens, Alcatel Comvik (Sweden) ... III. DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION The EU has always been one of the largest donors to Viet Nam (the EU is the largest non-refundable aid provider). In the period of 1993 - 2013, the total commitments of the EC and EU Member States reached nearly USD 14 billion, accounting for 20% of the total commitment of the international donor to Viet Nam, EU non-refundable aid was about $ 1.5 billion. The European Commission (EC) pledged to provide 400 million Euros aid to Viet Nam for the period of 2014 - 2020, (the list of Asian countries benefiting from EU’s ODA decreased to 12 from 19 ), focusing on governance, rule of law and sustainable energy. It is expected that the EU will spend around 350 million Euros for the projects investing in the field of sustainable energy development (energy saving, renewable energy, rural electrification). In 2016, EC has provided more aid to Viet Nam: (i) € 2 million Euros humanitarian aid to provide emergency relief to Viet Nam communities affected by the ongoing drought and saltwater intrusion (the Central Highlands and Mekong Deltas); (ii) 2.5 million Euros for the project of Sustainable Shrimp Aquaculture in Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces for the period of 2016-2020. APPENDIX 1 Major milestones of the Viet Nam-EU relationship 1990: Viet Nam and European Communitiy officially established the diplomatic relations. 1992: Viet Nam and the European Communitiy signed the Textile Agreement. 1995: Viet Nam and European Community signed the Viet Nam – EC Framework Cooperation Agreement. 1996: European Commission set up its permanent Delegation to Viet Nam. 1997: Viet Nam joined the ASEAN – EU Cooperation Agreement. 2003: Viet Nam – EU Human rights Dialogue was launched. 2004: First Viet Nam – EU Summit in Hanoi. 2005: Viet Nam adopted a Master Plan and Action plan in developing Viet Nam - EU relations towards 2010 and orientations towards 2015. 2008: The negotiations on the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA) between Viet Nam and EU were launched. 2010: Viet Nam – EU PCA was initialed. 2012: Viet Nam – EU PCA was officially signed and the negotiations for a Viet Nam – EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) started. 2015: Celebration of 25 Years of EU-Viet Nam Diplomatic Relations. 2015: Conclusion of the negotiations of a European Union - Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (FTA). 2016: Conclusion of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) negotiations. 2016: PCA entered into force (since 01/10/2016). APPENDIX 2 MEETINGS AND HIGH- LEVEL VISITS On the Vietnamese side: 7/1993: Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet. 2/1995: National Assembly Chairman Nong Duc Manh. 1/1996: Deputy Prime Minister Tran Duc Luong. 4/1998: Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. 9/2002: Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. 3/2004: General Secretary Nong Duc Manh. 3/2005: Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Van An. 9/2006: Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. 4/2010: Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met President of the European Council Van Rompuy on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, USA. 7/2010: Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong. 10/2010: Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited the EU. 6/2011: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem met EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton on the sidelines of the FMM 10 in Hungary. 12/2011: Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung. 3/2012: Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and the EC President Barroso on the sidelines of the Nuclear Summit in Seoul, Republic of Korea. 4/2012: Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Catherine Ashton on the sidelines of the AEMM-19 in Brunei. 6/2012: Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh visited the EU and officially signed the Viet Nam – EU PCA. EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and Viet Namese Minister for Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang officially launched negotiations for a FTA between the EU and Viet Nam in Brussels. 1/2013: General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong paid an official visit to the European Union. 9/2013: Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai. 1/2014: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (Switzerland). 10/ 2014: Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. 8/2015: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini on the sidelines of AMM 48 (Malaysia). 9/2015: Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh. 12/2015: Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. 5/2016: Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met the European Council Donald Tusk and the EC President Jean Claude Juncker on the sidelines of G7 Summit (Japan). 6/2016: Vice Chaiman of the National Assembly Uong Chung Luu visited the EP and met EP Vice President Dimitrios Papadimoulis. 07/2016: Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met the EC President Jean Claude Juncker on the sidelines of ASEM 11 (Mongolia). 07/2016: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini on the sidelines of ASEM 11 (Mongolia). 07/2017: Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met the European Council Donald Tusk and the EC President Jean Claude Juncker on the sidelines of G20 Summit ( Germany). On the EU side: 7/1994: EC commissioner in charge of foreign affairs Hans van den Broe. 9/1995: EC Vice-President Manuel Marin. 1/2004: Member of the EC in charge of Food Safety, Public Health and Consumer Protection David Byrne. 7/2004: EU Special Representative in charge of ASEM Hans van den Broek. 10/2004: EC President Romano Prodi and EC Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy. 4/2005: EC Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson. 10/2005: Director General for External relations of EC Eneko Landaburu. 11/2005: EC Commissioner in charge of Food Safety, Public Health an Consumer Protection M. Kyprianou. 4/2006: EC Commissioner in charge of foreign affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner. 5/2006: Chairman of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and Chairman of the EP’s Delegation to the Southeast Asia and ASEAN Mr Harmut Nassauerm. 11/2007: EC President José Manuel Barroso officially visited Viet Nam (the first official visit of the President of the EC since the two sides established diplomatic relations). 5/2009: EC Commissioner in charge of foreign affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner met Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. 2/2010: EC Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht. 3/2010: European Parliament delegation. 3/2012: EC Commissioner in charge of Development Cooperation Andris Piebalgs . 10/2012: President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy. 3/2013: EC Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht paid a working visit to Viet Nam. 10/2013: European Parliament delegation for relations with ASEAN visited Viet Nam and attended the 9th EP - Viet Nam Parliamentary Meeting. 11/2013: Vice President cum Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship of the European Commission Antonio Tajani. 3/2014: EC Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht paid a working visit to Viet Nam in the context of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade negotiations. 8/2014: High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Catherine Ashton. 8/ 2014: President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso(Second visit). 3/2015: Vice-President of the European Parliament Mr. Dimitrios Papadimoulis. 4/2015: Chairman of International Trade Committee of the European Parliament Bernd Lange. 11/2015: EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica. 11/2016: Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan. 11/2016: Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella. 9/2017: Chairman of International Trade Committee of the European Parliament Bernd Lange.