EC External Relation Leader to Make First Tour Vietnam

European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner will visit Vietnam for the first time from April 21-23, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on April 6.

 

"This is the first visit to Vietnam by Madam Bero-Waldner and the first official visit by a European Commissioner for External Relations to the country in the last 10 years," spokesman Le Dung said at a regular press briefing in Hanoi.

 

Dung revealed that highlight of the trip is measures to implement the "Master Plan for Vietnam-EU Relations up to 2010 and towards 2015", which was mapped out by the two sides.

 

The trip is expected to push up cooperation between Vietnam and the EC.

 

Vietnam and EU in recent years has closely cooperated in various fields.

 

Two-way trade between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) fetched US$8.1 billion in 2005, with Vietnam’s exports to the EU accounting for US$5.4 billion, according to an official from the Vietnamese Ministry of Trade.

 

In 2006, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and EU is expected to hit US$9.2 billion, of which Vietnam’s exports to the EU will contribute US$6.05 billion.

 

EU investors arrived in Vietnam soon after Vietnam’s Law on Foreign Investment was promulgated in 1987. By the end of November 2005, the EU had initiated 740 projects with total registered capital of US$9.94 billion in Vietnam, becoming one of the leading foreign investors to the country.

 

The EU has pledged US$161 million for Vietnam in the period of 2002-2006, becoming Vietnam’s biggest donor for development cooperation on healthcare, education, culture, environmental protection, administrative reform and poverty reduction.
Labour, VNA