KONTAN.CO.ID - STRASBOURG. The European Union agreed on Wednesday to open its markets wider to Vietnam, while closing its trade doors to Cambodia, rewarding Hanoi for its progress on labour guarantees and sanctioning Phnom Penh for human rights abuses. The moves mark the EU's increased insistence that trading partnerships go beyond market liberalisation and be coupled with commitments to environmental, labour and social standards. On Wednesday, it displayed both its carrot and stick. In Strasbourg, EU lawmakers voted by 401-192 to approve a free trade agreement with Vietnam. It is the most comprehensive pact of its kind struck by the EU with a developing country, and only its second - after Singapore - with a member of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN).
EU opens trade door to Vietnam, closes it to Cambodia
KONTAN.CO.ID - STRASBOURG. The European Union agreed on Wednesday to open its markets wider to Vietnam, while closing its trade doors to Cambodia, rewarding Hanoi for its progress on labour guarantees and sanctioning Phnom Penh for human rights abuses. The moves mark the EU's increased insistence that trading partnerships go beyond market liberalisation and be coupled with commitments to environmental, labour and social standards. On Wednesday, it displayed both its carrot and stick. In Strasbourg, EU lawmakers voted by 401-192 to approve a free trade agreement with Vietnam. It is the most comprehensive pact of its kind struck by the EU with a developing country, and only its second - after Singapore - with a member of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN).