Politburo member and Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh (L) welcomes Bernd Lange, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, in Hanoi on October 30 (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) –Politburo member and Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s EconomicCommission Nguyen Van Binh met with Bernd Lange, Chairman of the European Parliament’sCommittee on International Trade, in Hanoi on October 30.
Binh appreciated Lange’s contributions to thecomprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and the European Union (EU).
He reiterated that Vietnam always considers theEU one of its leading partners, adding the two sides have recorded numerousstrides in their relations in the recent past, particularly in economy, tradeand investment.
The EU is currently the fourth largest tradepartner of Vietnam with bilateral trade surging over 13 times from 4.1 billionUSD in 2000 to 55.8 billion USD in 2018, he said, adding that it also standsfifth among foreign investors in the Southeast Asian nation.
He stressed that the signing of the EU-VietnamFree Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) is animportant development step in bilateral ties, as well as ASEAN-EU relations,especially when Vietnam will hold the ASEAN chairmanship in 2020.
The official asked Lange to help accelerate theEuropean Parliament’s ratification of the two deals so as to soon concretizethe benefits these agreements can generate for both sides’ people andbusinesses.
For his part, Lange said his working visit toVietnam this time aims to help intensify the EU-Vietnam cooperation and preparefor the European Parliament and its member parliaments’ official ratificationof the EVFTA and IPA./.
VNA
