Vietnam will do its utmost to boost cooperation, especially trade ties among ASEAN members and between the bloc and China when the country assumes the ASEAN Presidency 2010.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu made the commitment at a two-day forum on the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) opened in Nanning City in China’s Guangxi province on Jan 7.
The forum, the first large-scale event after the ACFTA took effect on Jan. 1, is aimed at analyzing and assessing achievements during the forming process of the ACFTA and discussing measures to boost economic, investment and trade ties between ASEAN and China.
More than 400 delegates, including government officials, diplomats, analysts and academics from China and ASEAN countries are gathering at the two-day forum, which was held by the ASEAN Secretariat, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the economic management agencies of the 10 ASEAN member countries.
Under the ACFTA, China will exempt taxes on 90% of goods imported from ASEAN countries in 2010 and lower the average tariffs on imports from ASEAN bloc to 0.1% from the current 9.8%.
Six ASEAN founding nations of Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will reduce the average tariffs on imports from China to 0.6% in 2010 from the current 12.8%.
Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar will apply tariff reduction from 2015.
ASEAN’s exports to China are forecast to see an average annual rise of 0.9% or US$5.4 billion thanks to the ACFTA.
Trade between China and ASEAN reached over US$230 billion in 2008. (Youth, Investment)
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