EU-Vietnam FTA needs to balance interests: Deputy PM
(VOVWORLD) - The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) needs to balance both sides’ interests and respects the articles that they have agreed on, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue told Ambassador Bruno Angelet, head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam.
 Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue (R) meets with Ambassador Bruno Angelet, head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, on November 21 (Photo: VNA) |
At a working session in Hanoi on November 21, Hue affirmed that the EVFTA is important to both Vietnam and the EU, asking the two sides to coordinate to speed up the signing and ratification of the trade pact in the first half of 2018.
The Deputy PM also expressed his regret at the EU’s issuance of a “yellow card” which warns Vietnam for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. He noted that this issuance resulted in a more complicated environment amid the two sides’ enhancement of trade and investment cooperation.
Hue voiced his hope that the EU will soon remove the “yellow card” so as not to worry Vietnamese fishermen or affect the EVFTA signing.
Ambassador Angelet said the EU will work closely with Vietnam to carry out necessary solutions in order to soon remove the “yellow card” for Vietnam’s fishery products.