Eurasian Economic Union, Vietnam sign accord on free trade zone

BURABAY, Kazakhstan, May 29 (PRIME) -- The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and Vietnam have signed on Friday an agreement on establishment of a free trade zone, the first agreement on preferential terms of trade concluded by the union with a third party.

The EEU comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

The agreement with Vietnam envisages liberalization of tariffs via decreasing or abolishing import duties for most commodity items.

The EEU plans to conclude agreements on free trade zones with other countries, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said after the signing. “At present about 40 countries spoke in favor of negotiations to conclude agreements of this type. And naturally we will be very attentive to them,” he said.

At the moment, the EEU doesn’t hold any discussions about establishment a free trade zone with the E.U., but the issue remains relevant despite neither Russia, nor the E.U. is ready to take steps in this direction due to political and economic reasons, the Eurasian Economic Commission’s Trade Minister Andrei Slepnev told reporters.

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