At the four-day talks, following the first in Japan last January, the two sides focused on expanding markets for each other’s exports.

Vietnam wanted Japan to reduce import taxes on its agricultural products, while Japan asked Vietnam to lower tariffs on industrial commodities, particularly motorbikes and cars.

An official from the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Economic Department said about the talks: “Vietnam has advantages and its negotiators are skillful.”

The newspaper quoted the Japanese ambassador to Vietnam, Norio Hattori, as saying that an EPA negotiation usually took one year to complete.

The Japan-Vietnam EPA negotiations were agreed upon during Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to Japan last year.

Dung and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, also agreed to start talks on a free trade agreement in January.

Trade between the two countries is expected to rise to US$17 billion in 2010 from nearly $10 billion dollars last year.

Vietnam exported nearly $6 billion worth of goods to Japan last year, mainly crude oil, coal, textiles, garments, seafood, and farm products.

Source: Tuoi Tre, VNA – Translated by Thu Thuy