EU, Vietnam aim to sign bilateral free trade deal in 2018
(VOVWORLD) - Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh visited the EU last weekend to settle pending issues to clear the way for early signing and ratification of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement.
 Minister Tran Tuan Anh and Stefano Manservisi, head of the European Commission's Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development, sign an agreement on financing for a program to promote Vietnam’s energy development policies. (Photo: Kim Chung/VNA) |
During a meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malstrom, both sides pledged continued efforts to conclude remaining points of the deal and steps that need to be taken in order to conclude the FTA by early next year.
Minister Anh and Stefano Manservisi, head of the European Commission's Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development, signed an agreement on financing for a program to promote energy development policies. The EU will provide non-refundable aid worth 108 million euros for projects on electricity supply for rural, mountainous, and island areas in 23 provinces until 2020.