An agreement concerning a free trade zone between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) could be signed in the first half of 2015, a press service representative from the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) told Sputnik.
“The discussion of main provisions was completed in December. Discussion concerning the possibility of signing the agreement in the first of half of the year is currently underway,” the press service representative said.
On December 15, the EEC, a permanent regulatory body of the Eurasian Economic Union, and Vietnamese authorities agreed on the main provisions of the deal.
Apart from Vietnam, the EEU is in talks with a number of other countries interested in signing a deal with the union.
“Joint research groups are set up with Israel, with India and Egypt coming up next,” the representative told Sputnik.
The EEC also confirmed the possibility of a free trade agreement with China but noted that talks with Chinese authorities were at a very early stage.
According to EEU Trade Minister Andrey Slepnev, the creation of a free trade zone between the union and Vietnam could increase the trade flow from the current level of $4 billion to $10 billion a few years after the agreement comes into force.
