VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam has completed free trade agreement (FTA) talks with the European Union, the Republic of Korea and the Customs Union of Russia-Belarus- Kazakhstan this year, paving the way for the country to improve its competitiveness and absorb advanced technologies.

These new-generation FTAs cover trade in goods, origin rules, trade in services, investment, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs facilitation, preventive measures, technical barriers to trade, e-commerce, competition, intellectual property rights, public procurement, sustainable development, institutional and legal aspect among others, Minister of Trade and Industry Vu Huy Hoang told our reporter in an exclusive interview.

Relevant parties are finalizing technical and internal procedures for the official signing to take place in the first half of 2015, the Minister said.

Viet Nam and the EU entered the first round of talks   of their FTA in June 2012 in Brussels, Belgium. Right after the 10th round of talks in Brussels, PM Nguyen Tan Dung and EC President José Manuel Barosso signed a joint statement under which they affirmed the importance of early conclusion of the negotiations and agreed on ways to handle arising obstacles.

Up to now, Viet Nam and the EU are focusing on key issues relevant to intellectual property rights, State-owned enterprises, and investment protection, public procurement, trade in goods and services.

For the FTA with the RoK, the two countries have undergone eight rounds of talks and other eight meetings since August 6, 2012 and signed an agreement on the conclusion of the negotiations on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of dialogue relations between ASEAN and the RoK on December 10, 2014.

Under the FTA, the RoK will offer Viet Nam preferential tariff imposed on farm produce, garments, and mechanic products while committing to opening up its market for Viet Nam’s services and providing technical and economic assistance for the Southeast Asian country.

Viet Nam began talks on her FTA with the Customs Unions on March 28, 2013 and inked an agreement on the completion of talks in Viet Nam’s Phu Quoc Island on December 15, 2014.

The FTA is expected to give a strong boost to Viet Nam’s key exports like agricultural products, garments, footwear, timber and some other processing commodities.

Viet Nam will open her market for the Customs Union’s breeding products, machinery, equipment, and transport vehicles.

This is the first time the Customs Union launched FTA talks with an outsider and all regulations under the agreement are in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) despite the fact that Kazakhstan and Belarus have not acquired the WTO membership.

Once the FTA comes into effect, the two-way trade value between Viet Nam and the Customs Unions may grow 18-20% annually to US$10-12 billion by 2020 from the current US$4 billion.

Apart from the aforesaid FTAs, Viet Nam is also engaging in negotiations on other three major free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the FTA with the European Free Trade Association.

VGP