The EU Vietnam Business Forum That Could Quietly Reshape Asia-Europe Trade

The first EU-Vietnam Global Gateway Business Forum took place in March 2026. Here is why this relatively quiet event matters enormously for the EU's Asia strategy.

The first EU-Vietnam Global Gateway Business and Investment Forum, convened in March 2026, brought together European and Vietnamese business leaders, government officials, and investment promotion authorities in what EU officials describe as the practical translation of the countries' upgraded Comprehensive Strategic Partnership into commercial reality.

Vietnam's significance to European trade strategy has been growing since the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement entered into force in 2020. Vietnam is a manufacturing hub that has attracted significant supply chain investment from global companies diversifying away from China dependence — a diversification that accelerated dramatically following the COVID-19 supply chain disruptions of 2020-2021 and the subsequent realisation of the strategic risks concentrated in a single manufacturing geography.

For European companies building supply chain resilience, Vietnam offers a combination that few alternatives match: competitive manufacturing costs, an increasingly sophisticated workforce capable of handling more complex production, an FTA with the EU that provides tariff advantages, and a geographic position that allows access to the broader ASEAN market. European investment in Vietnamese manufacturing has increased significantly since the FTA entered force, with German automotive suppliers, Italian fashion manufacturers, and French food and beverage companies all establishing or expanding Vietnamese production.

The Global Gateway dimension of the Forum is specific and significant. Global Gateway — the EU's infrastructure investment initiative positioned as an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative — has identified Vietnam as a priority partner for infrastructure co-investment. European institutions are co-financing renewable energy projects, digital connectivity infrastructure, and transport corridors that both develop Vietnamese economic capacity and create the infrastructure conditions under which European investment in Vietnam becomes more commercially viable.

For European governments managing their China relationships, the Vietnam deepening provides exactly the kind of market and supply chain diversification that reduces dependence on Chinese manufacturing and trade without requiring any direct confrontation with Beijing.