Vietnam, EU strive for early singing and ratification of EVFTA
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Leaders of the Vietnamese Government and the European Union (EU) agreed to gear up the implementation of the final procedures for early signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
Within the framework of the ongoing working visit to Belgium and EU, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue had a meeting with Vice President of the European Commission (EC) Jyrki Kaitanen.
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| Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue and Vice President of the European Commission Jyrki Kaitanen |
At the meeting with Vice President of EC, Deputy Prime Minister (PM) Vuong Dinh Hue spoke highly of the importance of the Vietnam – EU Partnership and Comprehensive Cooperation.
Mr. Jyrki Kaitanen highly appreciated achievements of Vietnam and agreed with Deputy PM Hue that the two sides should promote exchange of delegations at all levels, especially an upcoming visit to Vietnam of President of the European Council Donald Tusk.
During their meeting, both leaders agreed that the the Vietnam-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement could provide an important legal framework to further deepen Vietnam-EU relationship.
Meanwhile, Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue highlighted enormous benefits of EVFTA, which Vietnam, EU and its member states could get, saying that the agreement could lay a premise for close connections between EU and the Southeast Asia region as well as the Asia-Pacific.
Mr. Hue also said that the signing and ratification of the EVFTA amid rising protectionism are significant for trade liberalization.
Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue and Vice President of EC Jyrki Kaitanen also agreed to accelerate the final procedures for the early signing and ratification of EVFTA.
At the same time, Vietnam and EU will continue working together and enhance consultation to lift cooperation efficiency, especially at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the ASEAN-EU Dialogue.
The Vietnamese Deputy PM asked the EU to continue providing official development assistance for Vietnam via bilateral and multilateral channels while supporting Mekong Sub-regional cooperation programmes, the ASEAN Community and its central role in the evolving regional architecture.
Earlier, Mr. Hue had had a working session with the EU’s Head of the EVFTA Negotiation Team Petriccinone to exchange some information about the current legal review of the EVFTA.
