At the press conference on May 29 — Photo nhandan.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Embassies of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) held a press conference in Hà Nội on May 29 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Việt Nam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

At the event, Russian Ambassador Gennady Bezdetko recalled that negotiations for a new cooperation framework were officially approved by the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in December 2012.

Between March 2013 and December 2014, eight rounds of negotiations were held, alongside expert-level meetings among specialised working groups. These resulted in a balanced and comprehensive agreement that addressed the interests of all parties involved.

The pact was officially signed in Kazakhstan during the second meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, witnessed by top cabinet officials from EAEU member states and Việt Nam, he said, stressing this was the very first trade agreement the EAEU signed with a non-member country – a vivid testament to the confidence between the two sides.

Ten years into the agreement, Việt Nam’s trade turnover with Armenia has surged 61-fold, Kazakhstan 4.2-fold, Russia 1.3-fold, and Belarus 34 per cent, according to data from the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The ambassadors from all five EAEU nations expressed their desire to further strengthen cooperation relations with Việt Nam, affirming that Việt Nam has been an important partner for their countries. They highlighted the FTA has established a solid foundation for expanding multifaceted collaboration between Việt Nam and the EAEU in the current period.

Director of the MoIT’s Department of Foreign Market Development Tạ Hoàng Linh said since the FTA came into effect, trade between Việt Nam and the EAEU doubled to reach $5.6 billion in 2024, adding Vietnamese businesses have been capitalising on tariff incentives to boost exports.

Linh stated that competent Vietnamese agencies will continue supporting domestic enterprises to tap opportunities from the EAEU market. — VNS