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 and 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 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu witnessed the signing ceremony of the Vietnam - Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA).

VIFTA 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.

Israel is a developed country with strengths in science and technology, innovation, investment capital, etc., while Vietnam is one of the most dynamic economies in the region and the world, the third largest economy in ASEAN with a GDP of nearly 410 billion USD.

In terms of foreign trade, Vietnam is one of the top 20 economies in international trade with import-export turnover reaching over 668 billion USD in 2021 and nearly 735 billion USD in 2022.

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.

MINH AN

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