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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

Vietnam prepares for flood of imports
23-Feb-2015 VNS
Vietnam will be flooded with foreign goods as a result of the Trans Pacific Partnership and Vietnamese companies may not be able to take advantage of the agreement, a local expert says.
Vietnam may see little gains from Russian FTA
28-Jan-2015
The final negotiation between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan on their free trade agreement (FTA) concluded last month right around the time that Russia’s economy took a nose dive.
Vietnam and South Korea complete free trade agreement
18-Dec-2014 Vietnam Briefing
South Korea and Vietnam have concluded negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement that will remove import tariffs on more than 90 percent of all products.
Vietnam, S.Korea conclude talks for free trade deal
11-Dec-2014 Thanh Nien News
Vietnam and South Korea on Wednesday wrapped up negotiations for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement that seeks to triple bilateral trade turnover to US$70 billion by 2020.
Vietnam to spend nearly $5bn on meat, animal feed material imports in 2014
16-Oct-2014 Tuoi Tre News
Vietnam is forecast to spend as much as US$4.5 billion on imports of animal feed material, plus another $400 million on cattle and poultry meat shipments this year, a trend that will grow under TPP.
Businesses believe APEC’s free trade agreement will bring few benefits
11-Sep-2014 VietnamNet
The proposed APEC free trade agreement (FTAAP) is expected to be on a larger scale than the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, but many Vietnamese businesses are not enthusiastic about the trade pact.
Russian FTA could kill Vietnam’s steel market
8-Sep-2014 Thanh Nien News
Next week, Vietnamese officials will engage in their seventh round of talks on a pending free trade agreement with the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union. The Vietnamese steel industry expects to go bankrupt as a result.
Vietnam has trouble escaping dependence on China through FTAs
16-Jul-2014 Thanh Nien News
A host of pending trade agreements could help Vietnam reduce its heavy economic reliance on China, but won’t unless the country takes bold and difficult steps toward developing alternative supply chains and aggressively building up a domestic base range of fabric and component part manufacturers, economists said.
Vietnam hopes to sign free trade agreement with Eurasian Economic Union by yearend
20-Jun-2014 TASS
Vietnam hopes to sign a agreement on free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) by the end of this year, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Fam Suan Shon told ITAR-TASS on Thursday.
Vietnam’s exports to ASEAN reduce despite free trade agreement
6-May-2014 Thanh Nien News
Vietnam’s exports to its ASEAN partners have fallen despite the free trade agreement inked in 2010.