Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh speaks at the workshop (Source: VNA)Paris (VNA) – Vietnam and the European Union (EU) areworking to finalize legal and language – related issues for the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement(EVFTA) towards the official signing and ratification ofthe trade deal next year, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade TranQuoc Khanh.
At a workshop on the EVFTA held by the French Business Federation (MEDEF) and the Asia Centrein Paris on December 1, Khanh emphasised the common goal of the two sides toeffective implement the agreement after it is inked, adding that the VietnameseGovernment is outlining a specific plan for the application of the agreement.
For his part, Chief of the negotiation delegation of the EVFTA Raffaele Mauro Petriccione noted that the approval process of the agreement could take a long time becausethe EU is a trade bloc with many members.
Participants to the workshop appreciated Vietnam’s active foreigneconomic-trade policy and highlighted Vietnam’s leading role in recent globalevents, especially the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum inDa Nang, Vietnam.
According to Marie-Christine Pocin, a senioradvisor from France’s Ministry of Economy and Finance,Vietnam has a consistent policy of integrating its economy into the global tradeand the country has been developing various fields to promote povertyreduction.
Vietnam plays a positive role in the process of regional economicintegration, she stressed.
Nguyen Dinh Cung, Director of the Central Institute forEconomic Management (CIEM), highlighted the importance of the EVFTAin Vietnam’s integration process.
The trade deal brings great benefits to the country as it is estimated to generate an additional 2.5percent to Vietnam’s GDP by 2020 and 4.6 percent by 2025, he said.
The agreement is expected to help increase Vietnam’s export to the union, whilecreating new jobs for Vietnamese labour force, especially those working in ruraland agricultural areas.
It would also make it easy for Vietnam to import important technologies as well,which would help improve the country’s economy rankings.
Vietnam is the third largest trade partner of the EU in ASEAN, with trade hitting41 billion EUR (48.7 billion USD) in 2016.
Vietnam mainly exports electronics, textiles, footwear, rice, seafood, andcoffee to the EU, while importing hi-tech products, industrial machines andpharmaceutics.-VNA
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