HANOI, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked ministries, agencies and localities to diversify markets, products and supply chains to boost production and exports, Vietnam News Agency reported Wednesday.
The move is part of key measures to promote exports and expand markets in a bid to achieve the country's export growth target of over 12 percent this year.
The prime minister urged the effective implementation of signed free trade agreements (FTAs), while speeding up negotiations on new FTAs to access potential markets such as the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, India, Pakistan and Brazil.
He also called for continued negotiations on a reciprocal trade agreement with the United States.
Since early this year through Sept. 15, Vietnam's total import-export turnover reached 637.21 billion U.S. dollars, up 17.2 percent year-on-year, including exports of 325.26 billion U.S. dollars, the state-owned media reported. ■
