Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Chairman of the Eurasian Economic
Commission’s Board Viktor Borisovich Khristenko, on March 28, officially
launched negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam
and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
The announcement was made following a meeting between PM Dung and
Khristenko in Hanoi during the latter’s working visit to Vietnam .
Dung voiced pleasure at the official starting of FTA
talks between two sides, affirming that Vietnam will do its utmost
to successfully complete the negotiations with member states of the
customs union, on the ground of mutual benefits and fairness.
Dung and Khristenko agreed that the FTA would open up opportunities
for cooperation in economy, trade and investment between the two sides.
Later the same day, the two chief negotiators,
Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and Trade
Minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission Andrey Slepnev, signed a
joint notice on the first working session between the two sides.
During this session, the two sides will discuss in details about the
scope and areas covered by the FTA, and the structure and methods of
negotiations.
The two sides agreed that the
agreement will be in line with the regulations of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO), while taking due consideration of each nation’s
sensitive areas and the development gap between them.
Two-way trade between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan stood at 2.7 billion USD in 2012.
The FTA is expected to help the two sides achieve its goal of raising
bilateral trade turnover to 10 billion USD before 2020 as set by their
leaders. It will also contribute to boosting the politic, economic,
trade and investment relations between the four countries.-VNA