EU Wants to Discuss FTA with Vietnam in Feb or Mar: Ambassador
The European Union (EU) wants to start negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with Vietnam within the next two months, aiming to further boost bilateral trade ties, Ambassador Sean Doyle, head of the European Commission delegation to Vietnam said.
Doyle said in an interview with reporters of the Thoi bao Kinh te Sai gon newspaper on his working tour to Ho Chi Minh City last week.
The EU economy is on the track of recovery from the global financial crisis and this is a good time to discuss an FTA with Vietnam, the ambassador said, adding that it often takes about two years to finish negotiations.
The EU had to decide to start negotiations on FTAs with each ASEAN members after it failed to reach an EU-ASEAN free trade agreement after the two-year negotiations, Doyle noted.
Vietnam is offering many opportunities for European investors, who are keen on an investment strategy “China +1”, meaning that they want to invest in both China and Vietnam to risks of pouring investments in China, the ambassador added.
Doyle said at a press conference held last May that EU had held technical discussions with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade on the possibility of an FTA.
The FTA is forecast to benefit Vietnamese exports very much as up to 60% of the country’s exports to the EU now bear high tax rates, noted the ambassador.
Trade between Vietnam and the EU dropped 29.79% from a year earlier to $14.8 billion in 2009, including Vietnam’s trade surplus of $3.8 billion. (Youth, GSO)
Vietnamese
