Vietnam, EU review bilateral trade deal implementation
Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen
Hong Dien and European Commission
Vice-President and EU trade
commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis have co-chaired the first meeting
of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement
(EVFTA)'s Trade Committee.
The meeting, held in online format, aimed to review the
implementation of the deal and discuss issues related to trade and investment
in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks.
Participants adopted Decision No. 01 of the committee on its
operation mechanism, which comprises regulations on its function, membership, secretariat,
decision-making procedure, and information transparency.
Both sides agreed to coordinate closely to speed up the
implementation of the deal and cope with matters that may pose negative impacts
on the operation of businesses of both sides, thus maintaining and developing
the supply chain amid COVID-19 pandemic.
At the meeting, the two sides also mentioned a number of
multilateral issues such as the reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the
preparation for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, which is
scheduled to take place from November 30 to December 1 in Switzerland.
The Vietnamese side highly valued and supported the EU’s
efforts over the years in ensuring that the WTO operates in line with new
reality in international trade and investment as well as interests of member
countries, especially under-developed and developing ones, said Minister Dien.
The EVFTA became effective on August 1, 2020. After
nearly one year of implementation, the two sides have enjoyed positive growth
in bilateral trade. Their import-export value hit 27.67
billion USD in the first six months of 2021, up 18.4 percent over the same
period last year./.