James Moran, European Commission’s Director for Asia, has described Vietnam as an important trade partner of the European Union (EU). He also affirmed that the EU wants to further develop bilateral trade ties with Vietnam for mutual benefits.
The EC official spoke at a recent meeting in Brussels for Vietnamese commercial counselors in 14 EU countries.
Mr. Moran said the EC held the meeting to help Vietnam comprehend its policies on foreign trade, multilateral trade liberalization, generalized system of preferences, services, intellectual property rights and anti-dumping.
He added that the meeting will also help Vietnam better understand the EU’s regulations on climate change, energy and the role of the Lisbon Treaty in institutionalization of EU activities as well as the bloc’s measures to cope with current global financial crisis.
Vietnam and the EU established diplomatic relations in 1990 and since then two-way trade has flourished constantly. Vietnam’s export turnover to the EU hit US $50 billion, accounting for one fifth of its total export revenue and doubling its import turnover from the EU.
Vietnam mainly exports to the EU leather footwear, apparel, coffee, wood furniture and seafood, while importing machinery, medicine and fertilizers.