The European Union and Viet Nam announced on Tuesday that they will begin negotiations toward a free trade agreement that could allow the burgeoning Asian nation easy access to the world’s biggest consumer market.

During his mission in Viet Nam from 24-26 February, Dr. Harsha Singh, the Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) comes to visit and gives lecture at the University of Economics and Business (UEB), Viet Nam National University (VNU) - Ha Noi.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy is expected to make a long-anticipated announcement regarding an end-March ‘stocktaking exercise’ on the Doha Round trade talks when he addresses a meeting of the WTO’s General Council on Tuesday. The proposed exercise is meant to assess whether the eight-year-old trade talks can be brought to a conclusion before the end of 2010, an outcome that trade officials say is increasingly unlikely.

Viet Nam Economic Times interviews Mr. Claudio Dordi, Technical Assistance Team Leader of EU - Vietnam MUTRAP III Project

Thoi bao Kinh te Sai gon online (TBKTSG online), 2nd February 2010: Vietnam has been a member of the World Trade Organization for 3 three years, looking back this stretch of road, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy, Deputy Director of Multilateral Trade Policy Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), Director of Multilateral Trade Assistance Project III (EU-Vietnam MUTRAP III) said that Vietnam still plenty of work to do to help its economy to actually integrate into world economy.

On 29/01/2010, in Hanoi, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) organized a launching event for the Committee on International Trade Policies and the Portal on WTO an Economic Integration.

On 20-21/01/2009, in Hanoi, the workshop “Instruments for trade related advocacy” was organized by the Vietnam Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (VINASME) in cooperation with the German business association SEQUA

Since January 1, 2010, Viet Nam has officially taken the chairmanship of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) within 1 year, just at the moment of 15th anniversary of Viet Nam’s ASEAN membership. Taking this occasion, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang has message to members of international and ASEAN business community.

On January 15, in Ho Chi Minh City, European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) organized the workshop: “MUTRAP III - European Trade Policies for Vietnamese Business Associations”.

Despite unusual global economic conditions, Vietnam has implemented its commitments to the World Trade Organization without delay over the last three years, and has become a reliable trading partner recognised by the international community, said Professor Claudio Dordi, team leader of the Multilateral Trade Assistance Project, EU-Vietnam, in an interview with VIR’s Binh Chau.