The Eurasian Economic Commission, which is in charge of the Russian-Belarussian-Kazakh customs union, on Wednesday began the first round of negotiations on free trade with Vietnam, the commission said in a press release.
Andrei Slepnev, a member of the commission, said the agreement on free trade between the?? customs union and Vietnam would regulate trade in goods and services, and would determine who had access to investment markets and the possibility of participating in major public infrastructure projects.
“Today, a new center of production and demand is emerging in the Asia-Pacific region, and the countries of the Customs Union need to enter those markets,” he said. “We have a long-standing and fruitful partnership with Vietnam; this is why Vietnam is the first country in the region with which we're beginning this dialogue.”
In 2012, the APEC countries accounted for 27 percent of the union’s foreign trade, Slepnev said.
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