The Vietnamese Ministry of Trade (MoT) on August 29 granted an insignia to European Commission (EC) commercial counselor Felipe Palacios Sureda for his great contribution to European Union -Vietnam trade cooperation acceleration.
At the ceremony held in Hanoi, Vietnamese Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen highly appreciated Sureda's participation in negotiations leading to agreements on garments and textiles and on opening the market between Vietnam and the European Union (EU), in 2003 and 2004, respectively.
The deals have brought Vietnam-EU commercial relations to a new height, added the minister.
Notably, Sureda has made great contribution to the conclusion of bilateral negotiations between Vietnam and the EU on the former's World Trade Organization (WTO) membership in October 2004. The move has helped to boost Vietnam's WTO negotiations with other countries, he said.
The counselor has also provided consultancy for Vietnam in getting access to EU's projects relating to technical assistance in trade, including a multi-border commercial assistance scheme during the 2003-2004 period and the 2005-2008 period as well as other projects.
Two-way trade between Vietnam and the EU is estimated to reach a record of $9.2 billion in 2006, up 13.58 per cent versus 2005, according to the MoT. Of the sum, Vietnam is forecast to attain $6.05 billion from exports to the EU, an on-year increase of 12.04 per cent, resulting in a trade surplus of $2.9 billion.
Last year, the two-way trade reached $8.1 billion, up 27 times over 1990 and two times over 2000. Of which, the country reaped $5.4 billion from exports, doubling the figure of 2000, and spent $2.7 billion for imports from the EU, up three times against 2000. Liberated Saigon, VNA
Vietnamese
