Brussels, 08/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung wants to boost the pace of the EU-Vietnam free trade negotiations which were started in June 2012.
Welcoming European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht in Hanoi on 7 March - on the sidelines of the ASEAN countries' ministerial meeting (see EUROPE 10801) - Nguyen Tan Dung said he believes in the mutual effort and the political resolve of the parties to ensure that the negotiations come to successful completion by the end of 2013, the Vietnamese national press reports. After an initial round of negotiations in Hanoi in October 2012 and a second round in Brussels in January, a third session is planned in Hanoi for 22 April. (EH/transl.fl)