26/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - European Commission confident over opening of talks for free trade agreement. The renewal in office by the Vietnamese Congress on 19 January of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has boosted the confidence of the European executive in the possibility of officially launching negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement “in the next few months”, according to Community sources. Last spring, Tan Dung gave his agreement in principle to negotiating a pact of this kind with the EU, which would see a reduction in customs duty on trade in goods and the liberalisation of trade in services, and would cover investments and non-tariff barriers. On the sidelines of the signature, in early October last year, of the EU-Vietnam partnership and cooperation agreement, Tang Dung and the president of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, agreed to start these talks “as soon as possible”. Vietnam is the EU's fifth-largest partner within the ASEAN zone. Bilateral trade grew by 12% a year in the 2004-2008 period, reaching €12 billion in 2008. (E.H./transl.fl)