Director-General Roberto Azevêdo has welcomed the strong statement of support for the WTO and the multilateral trading system in the Communiqué issued by G7 leaders at their Summit in Schloss Elmau, Germany. The Director-General attended the Summit to brief G7 leaders on the state of play in the current negotiations at the WTO and the importance of the WTO’s 10th Ministerial Conference, to be held in Nairobi this December.

The EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement is expected to be signed this year. Visiting EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) Executive Director Chris Humphrey spoke to Viet Nam News about likely impacts of the FTA on Vietnamese businesses. The EU-Viet Nam free trade agreement is expected to be signed this year. Do you think this will happen?

On May 19, 2015, the European Union (EU) adopted a Joint Communication: The EU and ASEAN: a partnership with a strategic purpose.

Taipei, June 3 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said Wednesday that the United States has suggested that Taiwan use the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) as a model in its preparations for joining the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade bloc. Taiwan has been upping its efforts to push for its TPP bid since last year, he said, adding that "we have been advised by the U.S. government that we could use the U.S-Korea FTA as a model for our participation."

President Obama acknowledged Wednesday that some sectors of the U.S. economy will be harmed by a sweeping Pacific Rim free trade deal his administration is seeking, but he vowed that the benefits of the pact would far outweigh the costs. "I've said there are losers. ... The question is, are there a lot more winners than losers? And the answer in this case is yes," Obama said during an interview with Kai Ryssdal, host of "Marketplace," the public radio show on business and the economy.

HCM CITY (VNS) — The need for businesses to learn the import and export regulations in different markets has only become more important as Viet Nam signs a slew of free trade agreements (FTAs), experts say. So far, the nation has inked nine FTAs, most recently with the Republic of Korea and the Eurasia Economic Union. Other new-generation FTAs are also under negotiation, including one with the European Union and the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty with 11 other nations.

Opportunities and challenges arising from free trade agreements (FTAs) between Vietnam and partner countries will present themselves equally, an official remarked a press conference in Hanoi on June 3.  The signing of FTAs affords opportunities to exporters, importers and consumers as Vietnam expands its export markets, said Deputy Head of the Finance Ministry’s International Cooperation Department Ha Duy Tung. 

With Vietnam just becoming the first Asian country to sign off a Free Trade Agreement with the Moscow backed Eurasian Economic Union, the relevance of how Vietnam plays its bilateral trade agreements has suddenly taken on a more interesting slant.

A US senator says Malaysia must be kept out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership due to its “abysmal slavery record”, Huffington Post reported today. According to the report, Democratic Senator Robert Menendez had previously worked with US President Barack Obama to allow Tier 3 nations – the lowest position that a country engaged in modern-day slavery can receive from the US State Department – to participate in Obama’s trade agreements. Malaysia, which ranked a Tier 3 in the State Department’s 2014 Trafficking in Person (TIP) report, is one such country.

HA NOI (VNS) — As the first containers of Viet Nam's lychees have been shipped to the US and Australia, the country will continue expanding fruit exports to other markets, such as the EU. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh made this statement at a press meeting in Ha Noi yesterday. Anh noted that it almost took five to eight years to bring fruits and vegetable to world markets. Lychee took 14 years to penetrate the two countries, which have strict quality requirements.