At the opening ceremony of the 50th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM-50) Meeting and Related Meetings (Photo: VNA) Singapore (VNA) – Minister ofIndustry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh met with his counterparts from Singapore,Indonesia and the Republic of Korea on the sidelines of the 50th ASEAN EconomicMinisters (AEM-50) Meeting and Related Meetings held in Singapore from August29 to September 2 to discuss bilateral and multilateral trade cooperation.
At his meeting with Singapore’s Minister forTrade and Industry Chan Chun Sing, the two sides agreed to exert more effortsto strike trade balance through key measures such as supporting Vietnamesebusinesses to connect with Singapore’s retail supermarket systems and removedifficulties to resume exports of Vietnamese farm produce to Singapore.
The ministers suggested connecting the twosides’ goods exchanges and attracting Singapore’s investment in Vietnam toproduce commodities for export back to Singapore and third countries whileenhancing support for Vietnam’s trade promotion activities in Singapore.
During a meeting between Minister Tran Tuan Anhand Indonesia’s Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukit, the two sides discussedmeasures to boost trade cooperation for rice and energy commodities as well asremove current barriers to mobile phones and flat-rolled steel imported fromVietnam.
While meeting with RoK Minister of Trade,Industry and Energy Paik Un Gyu, the Vietnamese official affirmed that Vietnamwill closely work with the RoK and other countries to soon completenegotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) andsign the agreement.
Meanwhile, Tran Tuan Anh and Deputy US TradeRepresentative for Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Industrial CompetitivenessJeffery Gerrish exchanged economic-trade cooperation orientations in the comingtime towards reinforcing the current mechanisms such as the Trade andInvestment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA)in addition to promoting new mechanisms to address issues of mutual concern,including the trade deficit with the US.
Vietnam proposed the US pay more attention tothe licence of import for some Vietnamese fruits (like mangoes) and considerappropriate application of catfish inspection programme as well as restricttrade protection measures and recognise Vietnam as a market economy.-VNA
VNA
