Brussels, 26/08/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 25 August, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said they hoped that the negotiations on an EU-Vietnam free-trade agreement would be concluded swiftly, and they hailed the way these negotiations have been conducted since they were launched in 2012. “The objective is to conclude the free-trade negotiations in October 2014”, said Nguyen Tan Dung. “There has been good progress in the negotiations and I have great optimism for this agreement”, added Barroso (our translation).
The two parties agreed to continue encouraging their Vietnamese and European companies to strengthen investment and trade, and to set up partnerships - particularly in priority areas such as industry, infrastructure, transport, energy, finance, services, health, space applications and tourism. The EU is Vietnam's biggest export market and its second biggest trading partner - with trade standing at €27 billion per year. In particular, Vietnam exports electronic equipment (including mobile phones), textile products and shoes to the EU - as well as agricultural products (including coffee and rice).
Barroso stated that the EU stood alongside Vietnam on its path to becoming an industrialised country by 2020, and that it would continue to support Vietnam in its reforms. He also noted that the EU is the top donor in terms of aid to Vietnam, and that development assistance would stand at €400 million in the 2014-2020 period - compared with €300 million for 2007-2013.
In addition, Barroso underlined that it was “time to establish a strategic partnership” between the EU and the ASEAN (of which Vietnam is a part).
Barroso and Dung also discussed developments within the EU and Vietnam, and measures to strengthen cooperation between the two. They spoke about international and regional issues of mutual interest, such as the tension in the South China Sea.
Barroso invited Dung to Brussels in October, linking up with the EU-ASEM summit in Milan on 16-17 October. (CG)