The EU and Vietnam completed today the twelfth round of talks on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This time the talks were held in Hanoi, Vietnam, from 23 to 27 March 2015.

Both teams made further progress on finding common ground on all open issues, and are continuing to work towards a swift conclusion of the negotiations. The talks focused on the outstanding areas of the proposed FTA such as goods (tariffs, rules of origin, non tariff barriers, export duties), services & investment, government procurement, state owned enterprises, IPR and geographical indications, and regulatory issues.

The chief negotiators Mauro Petriccione, Deputy Director General for Trade in the European Commission and Vietnamese Tran Quoc Khanh, Vice Minister for Industry and Trade, had also intense discussions on the key areas included in the FTA and explored further leeway on both sides. The talks aim at an ambitious and comprehensive agreement on goods, services and investment, and government procurement.

Once in place, the deal will further strengthen EU-Vietnam trade and investment ties and create enhanced business opportunities on both sides. In the run-up to the next round of negotiations, tentatively scheduled for the first half of June in Brussels, intensified contacts at Chiefs’ and technical level will take place.

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