Parmelin in Hanoi: EFTA Signature Is Only the Beginning
President Guy Parmelin agreed new steps on innovation and labour in Vietnam. The EFTA free trade agreement is due to be signed only on 18 October and will not enter into force immediately.
On Friday, 17 October, President Guy Parmelin held talks in Hanoi with Vietnam's President Tô Lâm and Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng. According to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the two countries agreed, among other things, on two projects of economic development cooperation as well as declarations of intent on labour and employment issues and on innovation. The visit also centres on an EFTA free trade agreement with Vietnam.
With this agreement in particular, the tense is what matters. The signing was announced for Sunday, 18 October. On 17 October, therefore, it was neither signed nor in force. Anyone describing concrete tariff relief or new market access as reality already is getting ahead of the process. The signature is an important political step, but it does not replace the subsequent domestic approvals.
Why Vietnam matters economically for Switzerland
Vietnam has been a priority country of Swiss economic cooperation since 2008. According to the FDFA, bilateral trade amounted to around 2.19 billion Swiss francs in 2023; more than one hundred Swiss companies operate in the country. These figures explain the interest in more reliable framework conditions. However, they do not mean that every Swiss company would benefit directly from the planned agreement. The impact depends on the sector, rules of origin, supply chains and later application.
Besides Switzerland, EFTA comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. According to its own information, EFTA concluded negotiations with Vietnam on 2 July 2026. The conclusion of negotiations and the signing show that the parties have agreed on a text. What applies afterwards depends on how the agreement is ratified and implemented. For Swiss companies this distinction is practical: planning can begin, but legal claims under the agreement arise only when it enters into force.
Innovation and labour alongside trade
The statement from Hanoi is not limited to tariffs. The agreed development projects and the declarations of intent on labour and innovation address issues that shape trade relations in the long term: skills development, standards, technological cooperation and the quality of jobs. A declaration of intent is neither a law nor an automatically funded measure. It records the areas in which the partners want to work together.
For Switzerland in particular, whose export economy is strongly shaped by specialised products and services, this broader approach can be significant. Innovation cannot be decreed by a free trade agreement alone. But such an agreement can create a framework in which companies, universities and authorities cooperate more reliably. Whether concrete projects emerge from this depends on subsequent agreements and resources.
Ratification remains a separate step
International trade agreements do not enter into force through a press conference. In Switzerland, the parliamentary approval procedure generally follows; depending on the design, further legal steps may become relevant. Vietnam and the other EFTA states must also complete the required procedures. Only then can it be said from when individual provisions apply and what transitional periods are envisaged.
This is not a formality. Companies need clarity about when they can use proofs of origin, which products are covered and how the rules affect existing contracts. For employees and consumers, it is equally decisive whether and when economic effects actually materialise. An agreement can open opportunities, but it guarantees neither export growth nor lower prices.
What the visit actually changes
The visit to Hanoi is a visible expansion of bilateral relations: it bundles trade negotiations, development cooperation and innovation contacts. But the strongest defensible statement is not that trade is now newly regulated. What is correct: EFTA and Vietnam are about to sign a negotiated agreement, while Switzerland and Vietnam are further developing concrete fields of cooperation.
For the Swiss economy, the benefit initially lies in predictability and dialogue. The next checkpoint is 18 October. After that, what will be decisive is how quickly and with what details the ratification and implementation phase advances. Only then does a diplomatic prelude become a binding economic framework.
