Vietnam, EU Look for FTA Deal

Germany will coordinate closely with the European Union (EU) to sign a free trade treaty and a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Vietnam during its six-month presidency of the EU which began in January, said German ambassador to Vietnam Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lortsch.

 

Weber-Lortsch told a press conference, organized by EU ambassador Markus Cornaro and himself on January 18 in Hanoi, that the EU is still a potential market for Vietnamese goods.

 

He, however, noted that Vietnam should modernize its processing industry and export hi-quality processed products to the EU market. Vietnam now mainly exports unprocessed products with non Vietnamese trade mark to the EU market, he added.  

 

At the conference, EU ambassador Markus Cornaro also affirmed that he will cooperate with Germany to push for a Vietnam-EU agreement on free trade.

 

Markus Cornaro said Vietnam-EU relations will develop further after Vietnam’s WTO entry, especially in the fields of banking, insurance, telecom, and aviation transport. The EU will also strongly support the private sector in Vietnam and cooperate in technical areas with Vietnam.

 

Vietnam and the EU signed a joint cooperative agreement in 1995. In 2005, Vietnam issued an overall plan on Vietnam-EU cooperation in many fields.