Japan, Vietnam ink free trade agreement+

TOKYO, Dec. 25 Kyodo - Japan and Vietnam signed an economic partnership agreement Thursday, laying the ground for about 92 percent of their trade in value to be duty-free in 10 years.

The agreement, signed by Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and Vietnamese
Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang in Tokyo, will come into effect as
early as next year after the two countries complete necessary domestic
ratification procedures, according to Japanese officials.
''We celebrate the signing of the agreement, which will elevate bilateral
economic relations to a higher plane and bring tangible mutual benefits to the
people of the two countries,'' said a joint statement of the two ministers.
This is Japan's 10th signed free trade agreement after similar accords with
such economies as Singapore, Mexico, Malaysia, Chile, Thailand and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations. For Vietnam, this is its first
bilateral free trade agreement.
The officials said the latest agreement is much more ambitious than the one
with the 10-member ASEAN, which includes Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia.
The accord between Japan and Vietnam will ensure bigger cuts in trade barriers
on goods, investment and services, they said.
Japan and Vietnam launched negotiations for the agreement in January 2007.
Japan had mainly asked Vietnam to scrap or cut import tariffs on industrial
goods, including auto parts and electrical products. Vietnam had sought
duty-free access to Japanese markets for clothing, seafood and farm products.
Japan-Vietnam trade value totaled $12.26 billion in 2007, of which exports from
Japan to the fast-growing country accounted for $6.12 billion, up 17.4 percent
from the previous year, according to the officials.
==Kyodo
2008-12-26 00:12:12