VN, Cuba expect to complete FTA talks soon

VGP – Viet Nam and Cuba are working together on a new free trade agreement and expect to complete talks on the trade deal by the end of 2017 or early next year.

October 02, 2017 5:42 PM GMT+7

The 35th meeting of the Viet Nam-Cuba Inter-governmental Committee in Ha Noi on October 2, 2017. Photo: VGP

The deal is expected to help raise the two countries’ trade value to US$500.

Viet Nam is the second largest trade partner of Cuba in Asia-Pacific, said Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz at the 35^th meeting of the Viet Nam-Cuba Inter-governmental Committee held in Ha Noi on October 2.

The two-way trade rose 4.7% in the first eight months this year and the number of Vietnamese enterprises doing business with Cuba increased to over 100, he added.

Noticeably, Cuba’s rice import fell down to 60-70% from 95% thanks to agricultural cooperation with Viet Nam, the Cuban Minister said.

He took the occasion to extend thanks to the Party, Government and people of Viet Nam for timely assistance to Cuban people following hurricane Irma, which swept over much of Cuba from East to West on September 7-10.

Speaking at the Inter-governmental meeting, Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha, representing the Vietnamese side, affirmed the Party, State and people of Viet Nam always treasure special sentiments and valuable support of the Party, Government and people of Cuba for its past struggle for national independence and the current course of national development./.

By Huong Giang