Australian Trade Minister to Visit Vietnam This Week

Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean will lead a business delegation to visit Vietnam from July 24 to 26 to boost bilateral trade ties.

 

The trade minister and the Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc, will co-chair the 8th meeting of the Joint Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee (JTECC) of Vietnam and Australia in Hanoi on July 24 to discuss the sectors of education and training, infrastructure and environmental management, financial services, oil and gas, and agriculture.

 

The Australian business delegation will also visit Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City from July 25 to 26.

 

In late June, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ratified the Australia-ASEAN-New Zealand free trade agreement (AANZFTA) as part of efforts to expand trade.

 

Under AANZFTA, the ASEAN bloc, Australia and New Zealand all pledged to remove 90 per cent of tariffs by 2018 and agreed to set up a non-tariff measure mechanism.

 

Last year, Vietnam’s trade with Australia was US$5.6 billion, while its trade with New Zealand was US$300 million. (VOV, chinhphu.vn)