Vietnam, Customs Union conclude 5th FTA negotiation round
(VOV) -After striving for months to prepare the ground for an ambitious trade and investment deal, Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan will complete their 5th round of substantive talks by April 4.
Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and Eurasian Economic Commission Trade Minister Andrey A. Slepnev will attend a ceremony marking the end of negotiations on the free trade agreement (FTA) in Allmaty city, Kazakhstan and are expected to announce they anticipate signing the agreement by early next year.
This round is of great significance as it finalizes the legal foundation for the agreement and has broken through the key technical barriers for which the parties were at an impasse, officials said.
In this latest round, the parties focused their discussions on hammering out the key trade issues including rules of origin, customs-related issues, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, investment, government procurement, institutional legacy, and dispute resolution procedures.
In earlier rounds, negotiators convened in Vietnam to craft the detailed fundamentals related to the establishment of the agreement following in strict compliance the protocol and guideline promulgated by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In addition to reducing the imposition of taxes on imports and exports between the parties, the agreement is expected to specifically offer more favourable conditions for cooperation in the banking and transportation sectors, delivering more jobs and economic growth for all sides.
Vietnam still has a few lingering concerns over problems arising from its seafood exports to the Russian market that still need to be resolved, officials cautioned.
Dang Hoang Hai, head of Vietnam’s technical negotiation delegation, and Eurasian Economic Commission representative Andrey Totrin said they greatly valued the persistent efforts by Vietnam and the Customs Union, expressing hope that differences between the two sides will be addressed so that the FTA will be signed early next year.
Economists forecast that the FTA will help Vietnam and Customs Union members achieve a significantly higher trade turnover, predicting it to raise to over US$10 billion by 2020.