Economic ministers from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom on March 2 reached consensus on the official ratification of EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (ASEAN-EU FTA) by the end of 2018.
Participants attend the 16th ASEAN Economic Ministers-European Union Trade Commissioner Consultations in Singapore on March 2, 2018 (Source: Xinhua)
Singapore (VNA) –Economic ministers from member countries of the Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN) and EU TradeCommissioner CeciliaMalmstrom on March 2 reached consensus on the official ratification of EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (ASEAN-EU FTA)by the end of 2018.
Speaking atthe 16th ASEAN Economic Ministers-EU Trade CommissionerConsultations which was held on the sideline of the 24th ASEAN EconomicMinisters' (AEM) Retreat in Singapore, Malmstrom stressed the two sides will work to getto the final stages for approving the important agreement, affirming that thiswill help expand the EU-ASEAN cooperation.
The two sides noted a progress report of the ASEAN-EU Joint Working Group on thebuilding of a framework of the ASEAN-EU FTA in the future.
The ASEAN economic ministers and the EU TradeCommissioner asked ASEAN senior economic officials to early complete the frameworkbasing on consultation processes in their countries, and dialogues between thetwo sides as well.
The economic chiefs thanked the EU for its support in implementing programmesand initiatives under the ASEAN Regional Integration Support (ARISE)project, and the Capacity Building Project for Monitoring Integration Progressand Statistics (COMPASS) programme.
The two sides agreed that the success of the projects will contribute to strengtheningtrade ties between the two regions.
They also discussed global and regional economic development, and affirmed theimportance to continuously foster economic collaboration between the tworegions to take advantages of the global economy recovery.
DeputyMinister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh, head of the Vietnamesedelegation, said as a coordinator of the ASEAN-EU cooperation, Vietnam hasactively promoted dialogues and information exchanges between ASEAN nations andEU to boost research and negotiations with EU on the draft framework of afuture ASEAN-EU FTA.-VNA
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Participants attend the 16th ASEAN Economic Ministers-European Union Trade Commissioner Consultations in Singapore on March 2, 2018 (Source: Xinhua)
