Vietnam signs 16th FTA with Israel

The signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and Israel marks the result of tireless efforts by both countries after 7 years and 12 negotiation sessions.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu witnessed the signing ceremony of the Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA). Photo: VGP

On the afternoon of July 25, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu witnessed the signing ceremony of the Vietnam - Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA), the Government Electronic Information Portal reported.

This is the first FTA between a Southeast Asian country and Israel and the 16th FTA between Vietnam and global partners.

The signing of the FTA between Vietnam and Israel marks the result of the tireless efforts of both countries after 7 years with 12 negotiation sessions and is even more meaningful in the context that the two countries are carrying out many practical activities on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang meets with President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Previously, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a meeting with President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog on July 25, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang affirmed that Vietnam encourages and creates favorable conditions for Israeli businesses to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam, especially in areas where Israel has strengths and Vietnam has needs such as science and technology, innovation, startups, labor force, etc.

Speaking at the meeting held within the framework of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang's official visit to the State of Israel (July 23-25, 2023), President Isaac Herzog emphasized that the Deputy Prime Minister's visit will open up good opportunities to strongly promote multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides discussed and agreed on a number of specific measures to further enhance the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation, such as actively implementing the free trade agreement signed during the visit, increasing trade turnover, promoting investment and tourism cooperation, soon opening direct flights, and creating favorable conditions for visa issuance for citizens of the two countries to promote people-to-people exchange and economic cooperation.

The Vietnam - Israel Free Trade Agreement is a comprehensive agreement, covering many areas of mutual interest to Vietnam and Israel such as trade in goods, services - investment, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs, government procurement, etc.

With the agreement reached in all chapters of the agreement, especially the strong commitment of both sides to increase the rate of trade liberalization with the overall liberalization rate by the end of the commitment roadmap of Israel being 92.7% of tariff lines while Vietnam is 85.8% of tariff lines, the two sides expect that two-way trade will have remarkable growth, soon reaching 3 billion USD and higher in the coming time.

In addition to contributing to increasing two-way trade turnover, VIFTA is expected to be a lever to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in investment, trade in services, digital transformation, technology, etc.

The signing and implementation of VIFTA will create favorable conditions for Vietnam to promote the export of its strengths not only to Israel but also to access other markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Southern Europe.

In the opposite direction, Israeli goods and technology will not only have the opportunity to access Vietnam's market of over 100 million people, but through Vietnam, they will also have the opportunity to access markets in ASEAN, Asia-Pacific countries and major economies in the 16 FTAs ​​of which Vietnam is a member.

VIFTA will create a premise for the two sides to continue to initiate negotiations, move towards signing other agreements such as the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, and continue to perfect the legal framework for economic and trade relations between the two countries.

laodong.vn