Brussels, 04/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Brussels on Monday, 4 October, on the sidelines of the eighth ASEM summit, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung initialled the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the EU and Vietnam. This pact paves the way to a large range of cooperation initiatives between the two partners in the areas of sustainable development and climate change, migration, science and technology, human rights and good governance. Barroso and Nguyen also agreed to launch negotiations “as soon as possible” on a bilateral EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (after preparatory technical discussions). Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht indicated at the end of August that the EU hoped to begin negotiations for this agreement before the end of the year. (E.H./transl.fl)