EU, Vietnam expect to sign FTA pact in 2014
Xinhua | 2013-11-14
EU, Vietnam expect to sign FTA pact in 2014
The European Union (EU) and Vietnam are working hard together to conclude negotiations on a free trade agreement by late 2014, which is expected to accelerate Vietnam-EU economic and trade ties, once signed.
The assessment was shared by Vice President of the European Commission and European commissioner for industry and entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani and Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang at their meeting in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Wednesday.
The EU is expected to expand cooperation with Vietnam in industry and farm products processing. An FTA will create impetus for economic, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Vietnam, said the European Commission official.
With bilateral trade turnover of nearly $30 billion in 2012, the EU is now the largest market for Vietnamese goods and the second largest trade partner of Vietnam, Hoang said.
Tajani led a delegation of over 40 European enterprises visiting Vietnam on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the first nine months of 2013, bilateral trade between Vietnam and EU reached 24.8 billion US dollars, an increase of 20.8 percent year-on-year. To date, 23 of the 28 EU members have invested in over 1,800 projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of more than $32.8 billion, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade.
