The United Arab Emirates and Vietnam yesterday signed a complete financial partnership settlement, the primary free commerce settlement that Hanoi has established with a Center East nation.
In response to a assertion from Vietnam’s Ministry of Trade and Commerce, the Vietnam-UAE Complete Financial Partnership Settlement was signed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Dubai yesterday. State media reported that Vietnamese Minister of Trade and Commerce Nguyen Hong Dien and UAE Minister of State for International Commerce Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi had been additionally current on the signing.
Because the Ministry put it, the signing of the settlement, which adopted a yr of negotiations, opened “a brand new period within the upgraded and more and more substantive relationship between Vietnam and the UAE particularly and Arab international locations usually.” The UAE is at present Vietnam’s largest export market within the Center East, and its second-largest buying and selling associate, after Kuwait.
Beneath the phrases of the CEPA, the UAE has dedicated to phasing out tariffs on 99 % of Vietnam’s exports, which embody a mixture of manufactured items together with textiles and footwear, cellphones, computer systems, laptop elements, and family electronics, and agricultural items corresponding to pepper and seafood. On the identical time, Vietnam has pledged to take away tariffs on 98.5 % of the UAE’s exports, which principally embody liquefied petroleum fuel (LPG), petroleum merchandise, animal feed components, base metals, and chemical substances.
The Ministry stated that the financial and commerce buildings of the 2 international locations are “complementary” and that the settlement was a “clear demonstration of the dedication to convey commerce and funding cooperation between the 2 sides to a brand new stage.”
The scope of the financial interplay between Vietnam and the UAE is modest; final yr, two-way commerce between the 2 international locations got here to round $4.7 billion, a rise of 6 % over 2022, in response to the Ministry of Commerce and Trade. Nevertheless, the CEPA is probably extra important for what it says about Vietnam’s proactive method to international relations.
Over the previous few years, the nation has intensified the tempo of its diversified and omnidirectional international coverage, making makes an attempt to broaden and deepen its relationships with vital regional and international powers. Over the previous two years, it has elevated relations with South Korea, the USA, Japan, Australia, and France to the extent of the Complete Strategic Partnership (CSP), the best tier in its diplomatic hierarchy. It additionally has CSPs with China (established in 2008), Russia (2012), and India (2016).
On this context, any enchancment in Vietnam’s modest relations with the Center East will present an extra strengthening strand to its diversified international coverage.