BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - The European Union has agreed to start negotiations with Vietnam on creating a free-trade agreement between the 27-nation bloc and the southeast Asian country, the EU's executive said on Tuesday.
The European Commission said both sides were working on setting a formal start and agreed framework for the negotiations, but did not specify a date.
"The Commission will now discuss next steps with the Council and the (European) Parliament," the Commission said in a statement.
Vietnam is the EU's fifth largest trading partner in the ASEAN region. EU bilateral trade with Vietnam, which rose by 12 percent between 2004-2008, stood at nearly 12 billion euros ($16.23 billion) in 2008. (Reporting by Bate Felix) ($1=.7395 Euro)