Vietnam, EU sign landmark free trade dealEU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom (left) and Vietnamese Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh stand together as they exchange documents after siging the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement in Hanoi on Sunday. (AP photo)HANOI: The European Union signed a landmark free trade deal with Vietnam on Sunday, the first of its kind with a developing country in Asia, paving the way for tariff reductions on 99% of goods between the trading bloc and Southeast Asian country. The European Union has described the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) as "the most ambitious free trade deal ever concluded with a developing country". It was signed in Hanoi between European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and Vietnam's Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, three-and-a-half years after negotiations ended in December 2015. The Vietnamese government said on Sunday that EVFTA would boost EU exports to Vietnam by 15.28% and those from Vietnam to the EU by 20.0% by 2020.

Source: Bangkok Post June 30, 2019 10:07 UTC