Vietnam, Customs Union eye stronger trade ties
(VOV) - Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan should increase the import-export of their key products to tap into the great potential of bilateral trade.
Duong Hoang Minh, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), made the suggestion at a seminar jointly held by the ministry and the European Union Multilateral Trade Assistance Project (MUTRAP) in HCM City on December 17.
The Vietnamese trade official said as Russia has joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the two sides can make use of the organisation’s rules to expand their market.
Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the Customs Union has grown from US$1.87 billion in 2009 to US$2.24 billion in 2011. Main imports-exports are seafood, telephones and spare parts, fruits and vegetables, garments, footwear and agricultural products, Minh added.
Discussing trade potential between Vietnam and Russia alone, Golikov Maksim, an official from the Russian Trade Representative Agency in Vietnam, said that the two governments are working to expand cooperation to new areas apart from the traditional ties in oil and mineral exploitation and banking.
At the event, MoIT experts gave their assessment on opportunities and challenges when an agreement on a free trade area between Vietnam and the union is put in place.