Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged negotiation delegations of Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to soon complete remaining procedures for the signing of their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in early 2015.

At his reception for Trade Minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission Andrey Slepnev, who is head of the Union’s negotiation delegation, in the southern province of Kien Giang on December 15, the PM stressed the signing and implementation of the agreement will be an important step to lift the traditional relations between Vietnam and the Union’s member nations to a higher level.

He said he believes that along with political, economic, trade and investment ties, FTA is a foundation for both sides to forge their links in other domains such as education-training, science-technique, and culture.

Vietnam always attaches importance to and will do its utmost to further promote its practical and effective cooperation with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan for mutual development and prosperity, the PM said.

For his part, Andrey said that besides negotiators’ efforts, the support from the two sides’ high-ranking officials play a vital role in concluding the FTA talks.

He expressed his belief that once the agreement takes effect, it will serve as an effective tool for cooperation between Vietnam and the Union, especially as the former is the only country in the Asia-Pacific region joining all the regional integration processes.

From 2015, the Customs Union will be changed into the Eurasian Economic Union with the admission of Armenia and Kyrgyzstan and the FTA will enable Vietnam to become a bridge linking the two key economic regions, he noted.

The deal will also help bring Vietnam-Russia trade to 10 billion USD before 2020.

VNA/VNN