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Andrey Slepnev: "Implementing joint investment projects will contribute to further increase in trade with Vietnam"
This opinion was expressed by Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, during the fifth meeting of the Joint Committee established under the Free Trade Agreement between the EAEU and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which was held on November 13 via videoconferencing. Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, co-chaired the meeting from the Vietnamese side.
"In order to achieve a balance in mutual trade, its qualitative and quantitative promotion, as well as to find new areas of cooperation, we should intensify our work on major investment projects, which will undoubtedly provide a prospect for further increase in mutual deliveries of products," Andrey Slepnev emphasized.
At the beginning of the meeting, the parties discussed the current state of trade and economic cooperation and reviewed the implementation of the Agreement. The meeting agenda included issues of additional liberalized access of goods to each other's markets, protective measures, sanitary and phytosanitary regulation, climate agenda, and exchange of information in the field of investment. They discussed existing technical barriers to trade, as well as the electronic exchange of customs information and rules of origin.
"The current situation in the global economy and new challenges in international trade once again prove the importance of diversifying the geography of trade and achieving balance through mutually beneficial trade agreements," Andrey Slepnev stated.
As part of the Joint Committee's work, the parties reaffirmed their interest in exchanging preferential statistics to analyze in detail the current status of the Agreement's implementation. In terms of sanitary and phytosanitary regulation, the meeting attendees considered some problems related to the access of Vietnamese fish and fish products to the Russian market, and meat products from the Republic of Belarus to the Vietnamese market. Progress was registered on implementing the Protocol between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Vietnam on supporting the manufacture of motor vehicles in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam dated March 21, 2016.
For reference
In mutual trade, a positive growth trend in trade turnover between the EAEU and Vietnam was observed during the first five years of implementing the EAEU-Vietnam Agreement (from 2017 to 2021), which increased by 32.2% (from 5.9 bln US dollars in 2017 to 7.8 bln US dollars in 2021). A one-third (33%) decrease in trade turnover was recorded in 2022 compared to 2021. In the first eight months of 2023, the EAEU trade turnover with Vietnam grew by 32% compared to the same period in 2022.
