Sept. 6, 2014 (TSR- RIA Novosti) – The creation of a free trade zone between the states of the Eurasian Customs Union and Vietnam is on schedule with a contract expected in January 2015, in addition to national currency settlements, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told reporters at a meeting of the Russian- Vietnamese intergovernmental commission on Saturday.
“We discussed the creation of a free trade zone between the states of the Customs Union and Vietnam, and recognized that everything is going according to schedule. From the first of January 2015 the Eurasian Economic Union will be realized, the relevant agreement will be signed on behalf of the Union,” said Shuvalov.
In late August, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Alexei Ulyukayev said that Russia plans to sign an agreement on the establishment of a free trade zone with Vietnam by 2015. According to Shuvalov, Russia and Vietnam both aim to increase the volume of trade to $7 billion by 2015.
The Eurasian Customs Union is also known as the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia.
“The task was to develop proposals in three weeks on how to trade in the national currency, and how to do it more effectively,” Shuvalov explained.
During the meeting, Vietnam and Russia discussed the problems concerning trade growth and decided a mechanism for calculating in national currency was a necessary solution. The commission also decided to establish a working group consisting of representatives of the ministries of finance and central banks, according to Shuvalov.
The 17th session of the Russian-Vietnamese intergovernmental commission opened on Saturday in Vladivostok.
The previous 16th session was held in October 2013 in Hanoi during which 17 cooperative agreements were signed. The total trade turnover between Russia and Vietnam in 2013 amounted to $3.9 billion, up 8.5 percent from the same period in 2012.
