HANOI, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Vietnam has signed a free trade deal with Japan that will exempt nearly all taxes levied on each other's goods over the next decade, the Vietnamese government said on Friday.
Following the economic partnership agreement signed on Thursday, Japan would exempt 95 percent of import taxes on Vietnamese goods and Vietnam would also lift 88 percent of its duties on Japanese goods, the government said in a statement.
The two countries started negotiations on the pact in January 2007 when Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization. Officials from both sides now will seek ratification by their respective parliaments to bring the pact to life in early 2009, the statement said.
It said trade between Vietnam and Japan is forecast to rise to more than $16 billion this year, beating an initial target of $15 billion set for 2010.
Early this month international donors pledged $5 billion in aid to Vietnam for 2009 on Friday, almost 8 percent less than this year's figure after Japan suspended assistance in the wake of a corruption scandal. Japan has been Vietnam's biggest single aid donor. [ID:nPEK134581] (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by David Fox)