This was stated by Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, at a thematic event “Motherland is People: Building Greater Eurasia” held at the Russia National Center in Moscow.
Speaking about existing agreements, Andrey Slepnev cited as an example the very first free trade agreement within the Union with Vietnam, owing to which exports of meat products, mineral fertilizers, chemical products, and metal goods have increased by several times. And as the EEC Minister emphasized, this growth will lead to a significant number of new jobs.“If in 2019 the West's share of foreign trade between the Eurasian Economic Union States amounted to 60%, it is now below 20%. On the contrary, the share of the Global South countries increased from 40% to 80% — even though the volume of foreign trade has remained virtually unchanged,” the EEC Minister mentioned. “We have managed to expand our existing markets in a timely manner, find new ones, and build new relations.”
According to him, good prospects are also observed under the agreements coming into force with Mongolia, the UAE, and Indonesia, where an additional increase in goods supplies amounting to about 12 billion dollars is expected, which will create approximately 160,000 additional jobs in the EAEU economy.
“The Indian segment is promising as well. We expect an increase in deliveries of approximately ten billion dollars there. This will create another 180,000 new high-productivity jobs,” Andrey Slepnev emphasized.
According to the EEC Minister, many trade agreements serve as a major incentive for strengthening regional economies. In particular, the agreement with Mongolia significantly contributes to the efficient development of Irkutsk Region, Buryatia, and Tuva in Russia. In this regard, the EEC Minister announced the Second Forum of Regions and the first meeting of the Joint Committee with Mongolia, both of which are scheduled for September.
The thematic event was attended by Alexey Overchuk, Member of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council and Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.
