Thanh Nien News | March 04, 2015

Vietnam completes negotiations for 3 of 6 major free trade pacts

HANOI — Vietnam has completed negotiations for three of the six free trade agreements (FTAs) it sought to sign with other countries and blocs, according to the Government Office.

All rounds of talks were finished last year for the FTAs between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, between Vietnam and the European Union, and between Vietnam and South Korea.

The three remaining FTAs are the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the pact between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association.

Vietnamese negotiators are working actively to finish the final rounds of negotiations for the unfinished FTAs as soon as possible, the government said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung praised the completion of negotiations for the three FTAs as "the highlight" of Vietnam’s global integration effort last year.