At a press conference (photo) on April 8 in Hanoi, Australian Trade Commissioner Tony Burchill said that commitments in the above agreement will go into effect on January 1, 2010 at the latest.

Signed in late February 2009 in Hua Hin, Thailand, this is the most comprehensive free trade agreement so far of Australia and New Zealand. The agreement will cover an area with a total population of 600 million and a total GDP of $2.7 trillion.

Included in this agreement alongside other ASEAN countries, Vietnam is recognised by Australia and New Zealand as having a market economy.

The agreement includes Vietnam’s commitments to further open the market for Australian products and to improve the transparency of administrative formalities related to goods.

Under this agreement, the two sides will gradually remove tariffs for both sides’ goods.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu said under this agreement, New Zealand will annually welcome a certain number of Vietnamese workers, firstly 100 chefs and 100 engineers.

Meanwhile, Vietnam commits to permit foreign law organisations to use Vietnamese lawyers and foreign lawyers to work for Vietnamese law companies as advisors of foreign laws.

Australian Ambassador to Vietnam David Cox highly applauded Vietnam’s commitments to open its market.

The above agreement will set up a complete framework for strengthening trade and investment between Australia and Vietnam. Two-way trade turnover between Australia and Vietnam has grown an average of 22% per year in the past five years, reaching $8 billion in 2007-2008.

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