Director for Asia and Pacific in the European External Action Service Gunnar Wiegand (2nd from left) and other EU delegates to the Hanoi meeting (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung and Director for Asia and Pacific in the European External Action Service Gunnar Wiegand co-chaired the event. At the meeting, the two sides stressed the need to promote the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) in the coming weeks. They said the early implementation of the deals will help create a strong boost for business and investment ties as well as a strong wave of high-quality investment from both sides.

The two sides exchanged views on the bilateral development cooperation program for the 2014-2020 period. They agreed to focus on the fields of rural electrification, effective use of energy, renewable energy development, climate change adaptation and sustainable development, judicial cooperation, public financial management and economic matters, human resources training, culture, education, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.