Free trade agreement between Switzerland and Vietnam expected this year

Switzerland should be in a position to finalise negotiations with Vietnam concerning a free trade agreement this year, as mentioned on the Swiss website Swisscofel.ch. Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann is counting on a successful conclusion "at the end of this year."

The minister said this last Thursday after a meeting with the Vietnamese minister of Foreign Affairs during the World Economic Forum in Davos. Pham Binh Minh showed his interest in the negotiations in order to successfully finalise the negotiations to 2014, as mentioned by Schneider-Ammann during the media conference.

Switzerland has been negotiating for a free trade agreement together with its partners of the European Free Trade Association EFTA (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) since July 2012.

Schneider-Ammann went to Hanoi last October to start the stagnating negotiations. There he met 5 Vietnamese ministers, amongst them the prime minister Nguyen Tan. At the time Schneider-Ammann mentioned to the local media that the reason for the delay was caused by "structural difficulties."