EU Ambassador gives presentation to students

On October 9, 2008, Mr. Sean Doyle - EU Ambassador - and Mr. Andre Haspels - Dutch Ambassador to Vietnam - had a talk with many students of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities on the topic: the position and role of the EU in international politics.

The talk reviewed the historical milestones of the formation of the European Union (EU) today, from the 1957 Rome Treaty on the establishment of the common market, the birth of the initial European Community with 9 member states in 1973 until the first official election of the European Parliament in 1979. This was followed by the increasing participation of countries in the European Union such as: Greece (1981), Spain and Portugal (1986), Australia, Finland, Sweden (1995), ten Eastern European countries (2004) and most recently Romania and Bulgaria (2007). In 2002, the common European currency (euro) was launched.

The EU is one of Vietnam's largest trading partners with a total trade value of 10.87 billion euros in 2007. Until 2004, the EU was still Vietnam's largest traditional export market. In 2007, the EU accounted for 19.32% of the export value and was Vietnam's second largest export market after the US. The EU is also currently the second largest investor in Vietnam with a total FDI capital of nearly 5 billion dollars.

In his speech, the Ambassador also highlighted the EU's contributions to the development and liberalization of world trade, affirming the important role of this organization in orienting multilateral principles towards sustainable economic development. The EU also played a major role in the establishment of the WTO in 1996 as well as playing a key role in the Doha Round negotiations, which are expected to make WTO accession more beneficial for poor countries.

The EU is also considered a major partner in development assistance activities on a global scale. The development cooperation goals set by the EU are: eliminating poverty, promoting gender equality, developing education, improving health and other basic services, sustainable development and establishing partnerships in the world. For Vietnam, the EU is one of the leading partners and provided 962 million USD in support to Vietnam in 2007. The main goal of this support is to reduce poverty in Vietnam.

At the end of his speech, the Ambassador affirmed that the EU is a common voice reflecting the views of the member states of the European Community. And with the Lisbon Treaty signed in 2007, the EU has the legal framework and necessary tools to face future challenges, while satisfying the demands of the Union's citizens for a democratic, transparent, effective, free, united and secure Europe.