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  1. Negotiations

Vietnam

Vietnam signed a fairly comprehensive bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United States in 2000. It came into force in 2001. The BTA was part of the post-war "trade normalisation" process between the two countries and should be seen as strong precursor to a watertight US FTA. In June 2007, Hanoi and Washington signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, yet another step towards a possible FTA. And in December 2008, the two governments began negotiating a hardcore bilateral investment treaty (BIT), yet another.

In January 2007, Hanoi and Tokyo began talks towards a Japan-Vietnam deal, which was finally signed in December 2008. Shortly after, Vietnam began talks with Chile, with the FTA signed in 2011. Hanoi already signed an FTA with Israel back in 2004 and may join the TPP. It is also intending to negotiate FTAs with EFTA, Russia and Mexico

As a member of ASEAN, Vietnam is caught up in the bloc’s regional FTA dealings with Korea, the EU, China, Japan and India. The Vietnamese government has also signed a number of bilateral intellectual property and science & technology agreements with industrialised countries, as well as more than 30 BITs.

last update: May 2012
Photo: Phó Nháy/Wikimedia

L’accord de libre-échange Vietnam-R​. de Corée entre en vigueur
21-Dec-2015 Vietnam+
Les investissements​ de la Corée concernent principalement la transformation et la fabrication industrielle, l’immobilier, la vente au détail et en gros, et la construction, avec une somme totale de plus de 5 milliards de dollars.
S Korea ratifies VN trade deal
2-Dec-2015 Viet Nam News
South Korea’s National Assembly officially adopted a free trade agreement with Viet Nam.
Vietnam to lose $77 million of tax revenue each year due to free trade pacts
24-Sep-2015 Thanh Nien News
The government has estimated that it will lose around US$77 million of tax revenue annually between 2016 and 2025, when new free trade agreements take effect and eliminate a majority of import duties.
Chicken war with US shows free trade threat to Vietnamese farmers
18-Aug-2015
Hanoi chicken farmer Nguyen Huu Tuyen blames inexpensive poultry imported from the US for the loss of almost $14,000 this year.
In hurrying trade deal with Vietnam, the EU is bypassing its human rights obligations
10-Aug-2015 FIDH
FIDH and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights said that if finalised without conducting a human-rights impact assessment and without introducing the necessary human rights safeguards, the EU-Vietnam Free trade and investment agreement would be concluded in violation of EU law.
L’Afrique du Sud souhaite renforcer son commerce avec le Vietnam
5-Aug-2015 Le Courrier du Vietnam
Durant son séjour en Afrique du Sud, le vice-Premier ministre vietnamien Hoàng Trung Haile et le vice-président sud-africain Cyril Ramaphosa ont discuté du renforcement de leur coopération dans l’économie, le commerce et l’investissement
Vietnamese firms unenthusiastic about FTA with South Korea
26-Jun-2015 Thanh Nien News
While the government hopes the free trade agreement with South Korea will bring benefits to Vietnam, businesses fear it will bring them more losses than gains.
VN-South Korea FTA: A chance to develop firms
21-May-2015
The Viet Nam - South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed on May 5 is expected to bring positive effects to many of the countries’ economic fields.
Vietnamese exporters need to plan for FTA lawsuit liability
20-May-2015
New free trade agreements (FTA) will help Vietnamese companies improve access to markets and diminish costs, but they will also require strategies and policies to minimise the probability of trade lawsuits, speakers said at a seminar on global trade late last week in HCM City.
Laos, Vietnam expand free trade agreement
10-Mar-2015 Tax News
Laos and Vietnam signed an improved free trade agreement (FTA) on March 3, 2015, to replace their existing treaty dating back to 1998.