Vietnam, European Union to meet on renewed trade pact
HANOI - Vietnam and the European Union will meet to discuss renewing and
broadening an agreement on trade and aid co-operation either later this year or in early 2001, a senior EU
official said on Monday.
Frederic Baron, head of the delegation of the European Commission in Vietnam, told a new
conference that the meeting was originally scheduled for November.
"It was first planned for November, but Vietnam has many political events in that month, so the
meeting will be delayed until later this year or early next year," he said.
US President Bill Clinton is scheduled to visit Vietnam in mid-November, the first visit by a US
president since the Vietnam War.
The EU and Vietnam signed an action plan "Towards a Comprehensive Co-operation Partnership"
in 1996.
Baron said Vietnam and EU investors wanted to expand several points related to investment and
services in the next framework agreement even though a trade agreement Hanoi had signed with
Washington in July would apply to all countries.
"The meeting is aimed at adding some articles in investment and services which Vietnam and
investors have agreed," Baron said without giving further details.
He said the EU was Vietnam's biggest trade partner and had helped Vietnamese exporters gain
entry to its market. Vietnam mainly exports footwear, garments and aquatic products to EU markets.
Vu Duong Huan, general director of Vietnam's Institute for International Relations, said the two way
trade volume of $4.5 billion was still below potential.
He said the EU countries collectively were the third biggest investors and aid donors in Vietnam,
providing totals of $4.3 billion and $1.7-2.0 billion, respectively.
Next Monday, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry and the French Embassy in Hanoi will stage a seminar
involving more than 100 Vietnamese and European experts to help prepare for the next framework
agreement, Huan said.
Reuters - Ocotber 10, 2000.
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