Viet Nam and the US have decided to further extend their bilateral garment and textile agreement until Dec. 31, 2006.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed in Washington on Dec. 9 by Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Tam Chien and David Spooner,  Special Textile Negotiator of the US Trade Representative.

Under the MoU, the extended agreement will take effect from the signing date through Dec. 31, 2006, unless Viet Nam becomes a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the US applies WTO  agreement to Viet Nam's exports.

This was the second extension of the agreement, which was first signed between the two countries in April 2003. The latest extension is expected to help Viet Nam's garment and textile exports to the US increase by 5-6 percent next year.

By the end of November, Viet Nam had earned around 1.4 billion USD from exports of 25 garment and textile categories to the US.

Vnanet.vn