Brussels, 11/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - Although the first steps of free trade negotiations have begun without a hitch, Commissioner De Gucht warned Vietnam that the reforms needed would be difficult.
On a visit to Hanoi on 7-8 March, the commissioner for trade, Karel De Gucht, and the Vietnamese authorities at a meeting held within the context of the EU/ASEAN ministerial summit, examined the talks launched in June 2012 for free trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam. The commissioner welcomed progress achieved following the two negotiating sessions. The first session began in Hanoi in October last year and the second kicked off this January in Brussels. De Gucht did, however, inform the Vietnamese government that it would need to make significant efforts in the next few months. In his speech to the Ho Chi Minh National Academy in Public Administration on Thursday, 7 March in Hanoi, the Commissioner warned that, “I am very pleased to say that the negotiations between Vietnam and the European Union have so far proceeded very smoothly. But there is a long road ahead and before we reach a conclusion some difficult decisions and significant changes will have to be made”.
In addition to liberalisation on tariffs, De Gucht highlighted the reforms that Vietnam would need to make in an effort to obtain an agreement covering Foreign Direct Investment, rules on state companies, public procurement, the trade in raw materials, sustainable development and, “perhaps most importantly”, the regulatory framework that will allow Vietnam to build on the reforms it made when it joined the WTO on issues like transparency and public consultation.
The opening up of Vietnam has led to growth, with an average rate of 6.5% between 2007 and 2011. This has also considerably reduced poverty and led to a significant leap forward in the position of the country in the international economic league tables, explained the commissioner, who also highlighted the fact that Vietnam was now classed as a middle income country. The commissioner explained that the country enjoyed a significant trade surplus and that the former planned economy, previously within China's sphere of influence, “will not need to wait for Europe's full recovery to benefit from closer economic ties with us”. De Gucht pointed out that bilateral trade had reached an annual volume worth €18 billion. (EH/trans/fl)