Kazakhstan hosts talks on free trade agreement between CU, Vietnam
By Aynur Jafarova
Kazakhstan's Almaty city hosted the first round of talks on a free trade agreement between the Customs Union and Vietnam.
"The negotiators discussed the sections of the draft agreement on commodity trade, customs administration, rules of origin and intellectual property protection, as well as public procurement," the Kazakh Economy and Budget Planning Ministry said. "The work on the text of the chapters on sanitary and phytosanitary measures and e-commerce has also been completed."
Conclusion of this agreement will foster the development of trade relations between the Customs Union countries -- Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus -- and Vietnam.
It will also create favorable conditions for promotion of goods in the Vietnamese market and attract investments to the union countries.
The Customs Union was established in 2010. The purpose of the organization is to form a single customs territory within which no customs duties or economic restrictions are applied. The Single Economic Space of the Customs Union started operating on January 1, 2012.