EU, Vietnam Free Trade Pact In The Offing

The European Union and Vietnam have agreed to push for the completion of a pending free trade agreement (FTA) during meetings between European High Representative Catherine Ashton, and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh.

Following the initialing of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in June 2012, FTA negotiations were started almost immediately.

Ashton said: "Implementation of the PCA will hopefully be complemented soon with an FTA, which will bring our bilateral relations to a new level."