The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the Latin American country of Chile is expected to help promote two-way trade exchanges.

Director General of the Chilean Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Economic Affairs (DIRECON) Álvaro Jana made the remark after the FTA officially came into effect on February 4 in Chile.

According to Jana, the agreement, the first signed between a Latin American country and Vietnam, will offer Chilean exporters great opportunities, not only in Vietnam but in ASEAN countries as well.

Chile will enjoy advantages in exporting beef, pork, dairy products and fruit to Vietnam, while Vietnam will see lots of opportunities to ship to the country coffee, tea, printers and camera products. In particular, footwear - Vietnam’s main export product to Chile - will enjoy a tax exemption instead of the six percent levy before the FTA.

DIRECON’s statistics show that Vietnam is currently Chile’s second largest trade partner in Southeast Asia, accounting for 20 percent of the country’s trade value with the region.

From 2008 to 2013, two-way trade between both sides saw an average increase of 26.8 percent every year, reaching 589 million USD in 2013.

During the period, Chile’s export value to Vietnam rose 27.1 percent per year.-VNA