Vietnam expects big boost from EU deal
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A free-trade agreement with the European Union would bring Vietnam tangible benefits in terms of removed tariff barriers and increased legal certainty, as well as intangible benefits that could strengthen production chains, said Jean Jacques Bouflet, the
Bouflet was speaking at a workshop in Hanoi entitled “Challenges in 2013: The Road Ahead to an EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement” hosted by the Vietnam-EU Business Forum.
Vietnam has became the third Asian country to kick off free-trade negotiations with the EU following Singapore and Malaysia, the director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Multilateral Trade Policies Department, Luong Hoang Thai, told the gathering.
Negotiations for an FTA with the EU have begun in the context of the global economic crisis, so it would be more difficult to reach strong commitments than when the economies were seeing good growth, Thai said. However, negotiations were proceeding with a long view towards long-term growth, he said, noting that recession was simply part of the economic cycle.
