Government Meeting
Excerpts from Dmitry Medvedev’s opening remarks:
Government Meeting
Today we will consider a package of documents on establishing a free trade area between the Eurasian Economic Union and Vietnam. These are a draft of the corresponding free trade agreement, two Russian-Vietnamese protocols (the first one is on services and investments and the second one is on fulfilling commitments to the World Trade Organisation), and our bilateral agreement on granting preferences to Russian service providers and investors.
During my visit to Vietnam in April, we discussed the details of these documents with top Vietnamese officials. They are set to be signed during the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting scheduled for next week in Kazakhstan.
This is our first preferential agreement with Asia-Pacific region countries. Customs duties on a considerable number of goods will be either reduced or cancelled.
Yet, tariff protections will remain in place for the most sensitive items to protect the interests of our consumers and entrepreneurs. We expect that the liberalisation of trade will allow Eurasian Union states and Vietnam to boost trade, economic and investment cooperation – and, certainly, will facilitate joint projects.
