On another front, the EU is launching free-trade talks with Vietnam, working toward an eventual Free Trade Agreement like the one recently signed with South Korea. The prime minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Tan Dung, has asked the EU to recognize his country’s market status and to resolve issues around anti-dumping measures the EU imposes on leather imports from Vietnam. Bilateral trade between the EU and Vietnam totaled almost €12 billion in 2008, and rose by 12 percent every year from 2004 to 2008. In 2009, Vietnam’s textile and apparel exports grew by 20 percent to $439 million.