Iceland’s Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir signed the EFTA Vietnam free trade agreement on behalf of Iceland in Hanoi today. According to mbl.is, the agreement aims to improve market access for Icelandic goods and services in Vietnam, a country with just over 100 million people. This signing brings new opportunities for Icelandic exporters and strengthens investment ties between the countries.
According to the Government of Iceland, almost all current exports from EFTA countries, including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, to Vietnam will become duty-free either immediately or in phases after the agreement enters into force. The deal is expected to be especially significant for seafood and machinery exporters, ensuring EFTA companies have market access that matches their main competitors.
The agreement covers a broad range of areas, including trade in goods and services, rules of origin, intellectual property rights, investment, and public procurement. It also addresses commitments on environmental protection, climate issues and workers’ rights, and is designed to facilitate trade for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Iceland’s trade with Vietnam has grown recently: in 2025, goods exports amounted to ISK 452 million, marking a 40% increase from the prior year. Seafood accounted for about 93% of those exports, with mackerel being the largest single export item, according to official figures.
The signing ceremony saw Þorgerður Katrín representing Iceland alongside Brigitte Haas for Liechtenstein, Guy Parmelin for Switzerland and Astrid Bergmål for Norway. Lê Mạnh Hùng signed for Vietnam, and Tô Lâm attended the event. During the visit, Þorgerður Katrín also held a bilateral meeting with Vietnam’s deputy trade minister Luong Hoang Thai.
Sources
- Stjórnarráð Íslands (Government of Iceland) in Icelandic
- Fréttatíminn in Icelandic
- Viðskiptablaðið in Icelandic
- Mannlíf in Icelandic
Image: Azimronnie / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · licence, original (resized) Illustrative image.
