Vietnam ’s access to the European Union market will become easier as
90 percent of tax lines decrease to zero percent after the two sides
reach their free trade agreement.
Head of the EU delegation to Vietnam Ambassador Franz Jessen made the
remarks at a press briefing in Hanoi on June 29, officially
announcing the recent singing of the Vietnam-EU Partnership and
Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and the start of negotiations for a
bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
He said the
Vietnamese consumers will access EU goods at reasonable prices and
Vietnam ’s products registered for protection with their geographic
indicators will gain advantage in international trading.
He also
said that increase in foreign direct investment to Vietnam will
create more jobs thanks to policies on investors’ protection.
The
diplomat pointed out FTA-related challenges for Vietnam , including
the fact that high-quality imported goods at reasonable prices will
pressurize domestic producers to upgrade production methods to improve
quality.
The EU is Vietnam ’s large importer, Ambassador
Jessen said, adding that despite differing characteristics, the two
markets supplement each other well.
Vietnam ’s Minister of
Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and the EU’s Trade Commissioner Karel De
Gutch officially launched negotiations for the two sides’ FTA in
Brussels , Belgium , on June 26.
Ambassador Jessen said the
first round of FTA negotiations will begin this Autumn, covering all
elements mapped out in previous meetings.
He said that the EU expects to the negotiations to finalize all conditions as soon as possible.
Also
in Brussels on June 27, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh
and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Catherine Ashton signed the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA)
between Vietnam and the EU.
The new PCA demonstrates the
commitment of the EU to forge a modern, broad-based and
mutually-beneficial partnership with Vietnam . It will further
broaden the scope of EU-Vietnam cooperation in areas such as trade, the
environment, energy, science and technology, good governance, as well as
tourism, culture, migration, counter terrorism and the fight against
corruption and organised crime.
Vietnam is the EU’s
fifth largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) and 35th in the world. The EU is Vietnam ’s third
largest trading partner behind China and the US .
In 2011,
the EU exported goods worth 5.2 billion EUR to Vietnam and imported
goods worth 12.8 billion EUR from the Southeast Asian country.
The
EU is also among Vietnam’s largest investors with a total investment of
1.8 billion USD, accounting for more than 12 percent of the total
committed foreign direct investment in Vietnam in 2011.-VNA