Vietnam, Chile to Sign Free Trade Agreement Soon-Trade Envoy
Vietnam and Chile will conduct the first round of the negotiations on a free trade agreement in the near future in concerted efforts to boost the bilateral trade ties, National ProChile Director Alicia Frohmann told the Vietnam Economic Times newspaper Thursday.
“We see many opportunities in Vietnam after the Southeast Asian country was admitted to WTO and Chilean businesses will reach strategic cooperation with Vietnamese partners in mining, oil, fishery and fruit areas,” the Chilean trade envoy said.
The two countries have appointed teams to consider feasibility of the deal, legal, economic systems of each country, the National ProChile director said.
Chile wants to take advantage of Vietnam’s membership in Asean, Apec and WTO to boost exports while creating same incentives for Vietnam to sign free trade agreements with Latin American countries.
Vietnam is ranked the 42nd among Chile’s trade partners with trade volume accounting for 0.16 per cent of the foreign country’s total trade turnover and 0.12 per cent of its traditional export value.
Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Chile soared 7.4 folds between 2002 and 2007. It reached US$162.7 million, up 1.2 per cent on year. Chile exports copper, fish oil, paper pulp, wine to Vietnam. (Vietnam Economic Times)
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