The establishment of a free trade zone between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will increase the two sides’ two-way trade from 4 billion USD at present to 8-10 billion USD in the years to come, an official has commented.

Russian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Alexey Popov said the Vietnam-EAEU free trade agreement (FTA) will make it easier for Eurasian businesses to export goods to Vietnam with higher competitiveness.

He noted that once the FTA comes into force on October 5, 2016, the average level of duties on EAEU goods will drop from 10 percent to 1 percent.

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Vice versa, Vietnamese businesses will receive preferential treatment from the EAEU market, improve their competitive edge, and enjoy an average import tariff to be reduced to 2 percent from 9 percent, he said, noting that similar goods from other countries are not subjected to such incentives.

He revealed that Russia will reform its customs clearance procedures to enable Vietnamese staples such as seafood and garment-textile to enter the market.

Commenting on the development prospect of the automobile industry in Vietnam, the official said it is a competitive market and Russia will export cars to Vietnam under quota with 25-35 percent localization ratio by 2020.

According to Ivan Gumnikov, big Russian companies such as Kamaz, Gaz and UAZ are actively promoting trade with Vietnamese partners to establish some joint ventures in auto assembling and manufacturing.

The Vietnamese and Russian governments are striving to obtain 10 billion USD in two-way trade by 2020.

The EAEU groups Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Source: VNA