Japan and Viet Nam will sign a free trade agreement on Thursday to eliminate import tariffs on most products traded between them within 10 years, the Japanese Foreign Ministry announced today.

The two countries reached a broad agreement on major elements of the deal in September after two years of negotiations.

Japan exported $6.12 billion worth of products to Viet Nam and imported $6.14 billion worth of goods from the Southeast Asian country in 2007, the ministry said.

Under the bilateral accord, Japan will eliminate import tariffs on about 95% of Vietnamese products by value within 10 years, while Viet Nam will remove import tariffs on about 88% of Japanese goods by value.

The pact is Vietnam’s first with a foreign trading partner, separate from those signed as part of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Japan, the second-largest economy in the world and the largest in Asia, has bilateral accords with Singapore, Mexico, Malaysia, Chile, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines.

Tokyo has also reached a broad agreement in negotiations with Switzerland, and is in talks with India, Australia and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. (The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE)