Ukrainian PM urges efforts to accelerate FTA talks with Vietnam
Xinhua, China
Ukrainian PM urges efforts to accelerate FTA talks with Vietnam
22 November 2012
KIEV, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov Wednesday urged to speed up Free Trade Area (FTA) negotiations with Vietnam.
"I set the task to prepare as soon as possible an agreement on free trade zone for signing. Such a deal opens obviously a lot of advantages for Ukraine," Azarov said while opening a government meeting here.
Azarov said Ukraine and Vietnam are facing great potential for economic, trade and investment cooperation, as well as boosting operation of the Vietnam-Ukraine Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic and Trade.
Kiev is ready to work with Hanoi in areas including air transport, military technology, hydropower and agriculture, Azarov said.
The prime minister instructed concerned authorities to immediately implement the needed moves to accelerate cooperation with Vietnam.
According to Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry, the FTA deal between Kiev and Hanoi would bring an additional 156 million U.S. dollars to Ukraine’s coffers and increase the country’s Gross Domestic Product by 0.07 percent.
Bilateral trade between Ukraine and Vietnam reached over 175 million dollars in the first eight months of 2012, an increase of 17 percent year-on-year.
On Nov. 15, Azarov paid a visit to Hanoi, where he met his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung and a number of high-ranking officials to discuss bilateral ties.
