Politburo member and Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh (L) welcomes Bernd Lange, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, in Hanoi on October 30 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Politburo member and Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh met with Bernd Lange, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, in Hanoi on October 30.
Binh appreciated Lange’s contributions to the comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and the European Union (EU).
He reiterated that Vietnam always considers the EU one of its leading partners, adding the two sides have recorded numerous strides in their relations in the recent past, particularly in economy, trade and investment.
The EU is currently the fourth largest trade partner of Vietnam with bilateral trade surging over 13 times from 4.1 billion USD in 2000 to 55.8 billion USD in 2018, he said, adding that it also stands fifth among foreign investors in the Southeast Asian nation.
He stressed that the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) is an important development step in bilateral ties, as well as ASEAN-EU relations, especially when Vietnam will hold the ASEAN chairmanship in 2020.
The official asked Lange to help accelerate the European Parliament’s ratification of the two deals so as to soon concretize the benefits these agreements can generate for both sides’ people and businesses.
For his part, Lange said his working visit to Vietnam this time aims to help intensify the EU-Vietnam cooperation and prepare for the European Parliament and its member parliaments’ official ratification of the EVFTA and IPA./.
VNA
