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Vietnam-US TIFA Council meets in Washington
The secretariat of the Vietnam-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council convened in Washington from April 15-22 to discuss bilateral cooperation in agriculture, trade, intellectual property protection and labour.
The Vietnamese delegation, headed by Bui Huy Hung, Head of Vietnam’s TIFA Secretariat, included representatives of the Ministries of Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development, Science and Technology, Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
The US delegation, led by Barbara Weisel, Assistant US Trade Representative, included members from the Departments of Commerce, Labour and Agriculture, Department of State and the United State Patents and Trademark Office.
During the week, both countries discussed measures to speed up the implementation of the Vietnam-US joint statement signed in June 2008 during Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to US.
Vietnam has requested the US to grant the Southeast Asian country the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) which if granted, will pave the way for Vietnam to export various types of goods on the list of 3,600 commodities that enjoy GSP at low tax rate, ranging from 0-5 percent.
Both parties discussed measures to facilitate trade activities, such as information exchanges, cooperation on customs procedures and the granting of licenses and mentioned a recent law suit by several US companies regarding Vietnamese exports.
They also looked at shipments of US beef to Vietnam and discussed measures to promote Vietnamese fruit exports such as litchi, rambutan and longan berries as well as remove barriers that restrict the shipment of shrimps, catfish, ornamental fish and wooden furniture from the Southeast Asian market to the US.
Also high on the meeting’s agenda were intellectual property protection and bilateral cooperation during negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement.
The US delegation brought up an initiative to set up two taskforces, one on trade and the environment and the other on bio-technologies.
The two parties discussed ways of implementing an early-warning mechanism in an effort to avoid trade disputes.
The first TIFA council’s ministerial meeting convened in Washington DC in December 2007, six months after the two countries signed the TIFA during President Nguyen Minh Triet’s visit.
The negotiations were regarded as taking place in an open and constructive environment with a mutual understanding.
Statistics released by the US Department of Commerce showed that bilateral trade revenue increased by 23.61 percent year on year to over US$15.28 billion in 2008.
Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus with its exports to the US up by 19.6 percent to US$ 12.61 billion while US exports rose by 46.6 percent to more than US$2.67 billion.
For its part, the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment reported that the US has now invested in 428 projects in Vietnam with a combined capital of US$4,258 million, making it the 12th largest foreign investor in the country.
Vietnamnews, vov
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