Brussels, 02/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - In a meeting in Hanoi, as part of his first tour of Asia, the new European commissioner for trade, Karel De Gucht, and the Vietnamese prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, reached an agreement, on Tuesday 2 March, to launch negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam. European and Vietnamese negotiators must now reach an agreement on the format of the free trade zone agreement, including the field of negotiations and timetable, with a view to formally opening talks on the subject. Vietnam's economy has great potential, with GDP growth reaching an average of 8% a year between 2003 and 2008. This rate stood at 5% in 2009 and is expected to reach 6.5% this year. Annual bilateral trade in goods reached €12 billion in 2008. Bilateral trade grew by 12% between 2004 and 2008. (E.H./transl.fl)