EU to Fund EUR15M for Vietnam Global Trade Integration Project Next Years

The European Union (EU) will continue to provide a non-refundable aid of EUR15 million to the Multilateral Trade Assistance Project Vietnam IV (MUTRAP IV) to support the country’s integration into the global trading and investment system in the next years. With this new project, the EU has increased their fund to Vietnam to EUR50 million, Pham Ngoc Khoi, an officer at the EU-Vietnam MUTRAP said, adding that the EU has so far funded EUR35M to Vietnam via three previous projects. The MUTRAP IV project titled “European Trade Policy and Investment Support Project” (EU-MUTRAP) has been approved and it will be deployed soon, Mr. Khoi added. Earlier this May, the EU concluded the MUTRAP III worth EUR10.67 million, with EUR10 million funded by the EU after four years of implementation, said Nguyen Thanh Bien, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade. Commencing in 1998, MUTRAP has supported Vietnam’s international economic integration process. As one of the longest Trade Related Technical Assistance programs of the EU in Vietnam, it has created greater awareness among Vietnamese exporters on how to access the European market. Trade between Vietnam and the EU rose by 30.54% on year to EUR10.49 billion in the first half of this year, with Vietnam posting a trade surplus of EUR5.85 billion. Vietnam and the EU officially started the first round of negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Hanoi on Oct 8.  The two parties aim for a comprehensive agreement covering tariffs, non-tariff barriers as well as commitments on other trade related aspects, notably procurement, regulatory issues, competition, services and sustainable development. (www.gafin.vn Oct 19).