In his recent phone talks with European Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh exchanged views on a number of issues related to the European Union – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and bilateral cooperation and trade in the context of the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh (Photo: moit.gov.vn)
On the agreement, the EU official said the European Council on March 30 passed the EVFTA and by so doing, the EU officially completed its internal procedures for the deal to take effect.
Minister Anh said the dossiers for the ratification of the deal have been submitted by the government to the state President to consider submitting it to the National Assembly for discussion and ratification right in its session in May. With this pace, both sides hope the EVFTA will officially take effect in July.
The minister further added that the Vietnamese government has drafted a plan on the implementation of the deal. After the ratification of the agreement by the National Assembly, the draft plan will be amended and perfected so that the Prime Minister can officially sign it for circulation.
The two also exchanged views on bilateral trade and cooperation within the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
They agreed to exert further efforts to boost trade in the context of the complicated development of the COVID-19. On the cooperation within the framework of the WTO, the two sides agreed to closely coordinate with each other to boost ideas on the reforms of the WTO, especially the improvement of the efficiency of the mechanism on dispute settlement which is a focus of attention of all the WTO members.
