Việt Nam, Israel sign free trade agreement
Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên and Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat on July 25 signed the Vietnam - Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA) in Tel Aviv in the presence of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Notably, Israel is the first country in West Asia with which Vietnam has signed a free trade agreement (FTA) and Vietnam is also the first country in Southeast Asia that Israel has signed an FTA with.
Israel is currently one of the leading trade, investment, and labour cooperation partners of Vietnam in West Asia. The economic structure of Vietnam and Israel is complementary to each other, and the import and export products of the two countries do not compete directly but complement each other instead.
The signing and implementation of the VIFTA will create a favourable premise for Vietnam to promote the export of its goods to Israel, and at the same time have the opportunity to access Israeli high-tech products, contributing to reducing production and business costs and improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods.
The agreement will ultimately remove duties on at least 86 per cent of Vietnamese products and 93 per cent of Israeli products, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.
In addition, the signing and implementation of VIFTA will create a favourable premise for Vietnam to promote the export of strong products not only to Israel but also to other markets in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Europe.
