Vietnam - Israel free trade agreement signed
PSNews - Vietnam and Israel signed a bilateral free trade agreement in Jerusalem on July 25, creating a legal corridor for the two countries to quickly boost annual bilateral trade by nearly 50%.
Signatories to the document were Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Israeli Minister of Economy Nir Barkat.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang who is in Israel for an official visit.
The Vietnam – Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA) was signed following 12 rounds of negotiations lasting for seven years. The signing of the deal is to celebrate 30 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries this year.
Israel is the first country in West Asia with which Vietnam has signed a free trade agreement, and Vietnam is also the first country in Southeast Asia that Israel has signed an FTA with.
Israel is currently one of Vietnam’s leading trade, investment and labour cooperation partners in West Asia. As the two economies are highly complementary, their import and export products do not compete directly but complement each other.
The signing and implementation of the VIFTA will help Vietnam promote the export of strong products to Israel, and at the same time have the opportunity to access Israeli high-tech products, contributing to reducing production and business costs and improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods.
With the signing of the agreement, both sides expect to soon raise their two-way trade turnover to US$3 billion and beyond in the coming time from the 2.2 billion figure recorded last year.
The VIFTA is also expected to help strengthen cooperation between the two countries in investment, services, digital transformation, and technology transfer, among others.
The signing and implementation of VIFTA will create a favourable premise for Vietnam to export its strong products not only to Israel but also to other markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Southern Europe.
Meanwhile, besides Vietnam’s market of more than 100 million consumers, Israeli goods and technologies have the opportunity to access markets in ASEAN countries, Asia-Pacific and major economies of 16 FTAs that Vietnam has joined.
