Nearly three quarters of European businesses in a survey are pessimistic about Vietnam’s macroeconomic outlook in the next six months, but their confidence in the economy over the medium term remains solid with plans to spur investments. Results of the 9th quarterly EuroCham Business Climate Index survey, conducted in October 2012 and released on Monday, show that business confidence and outlook... 

The European Union (EU) and Vietnam are officially negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). This was announced at a press briefing in Brussels, Belgium, on June 26 in the presence of Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. Global Financial Newswires (RTTNews) reported that the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Foreign... 

Japan and Canada formally agreed to launch talks on a bilateral free trade agreement expected to result in the first such pact between Tokyo and one of the Group of Eight major economies. The agreement was announced by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper in Tokyo, on Sunday. Japan and Canada, which has abundant natural resources, concluded a joint study... 

The ambassador and head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Vietnam, Franz Jessen, believes negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with Vietnam will begin soon, as the two sides have put their efforts on this and expansion of relations. Over the past year, the EU and Vietnam have had a number of discussions and tried to identify what to negotiate for the FTA, and that process was very close... 

A sweeping free trade pact between the European Union and South Korea, the first in Asia for the world’s largest economic bloc, came into effect on Friday, officials in Seoul said. “The South Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took effect as of early Friday,” Kim Hee-Sang, director for FTA negotiations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told AFP. The ministry said in... 

EuroCham, in the letters sent to Minister of Finance, Vu Van Ninh and Minister of Industry and Trade, Vu Huy Hoang, wrote that the application of new restrictions on the import of 100 consumer goods is the violation of the regulations in international trade. Meanwhile, Vietnamese officials have denied this. Several days ago, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to apply some limitations in... 

The progress in negotiations over a free trade agreement between has Vietnam and EU almost ground to a halt since senior officials of both sides early last year agreed to start the talks. In March 2010, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht agreed to start bilateral negotiations. However, since then, no specific progress has been seen, and FTA talks haven’t begun. Minister-counselor... 

HCMC – A workshop in HCMC on Thursday has urged Vietnam’s enterprises to contribute their ideas about a potential free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Union to provide inputs for Vietnam’s discussions with the EU. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang at the Committee on International Trade Policies under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) said Vietnam had not entered formal... 

Businesses should improve its competitiveness, enlarge the scale of production and build prestigious trademarks while meeting the regulatory standards of export markets. 2010 may be a successful year for Vietnamese export businesses as the world economy has shown signs of bouncing back. However, they have to overcome trade barriers, especially the law suits on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy in the... 

HCMC – The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) is organizing a series of seminars and courses to assist Vietnamese business associations in building capacities for European and international trade policies and issues. These activities are envisaged as part of a project called Capacity Building on Trade Policy for Vietnamese Business Associations that EuroCham introduced to the...