Vietnam, Russia to lift trade to 20 billion USD by 2020

Vietnamese enterprises should try to raise the bilateral trade turnover with Russia to 20 billion USD by 2020 following a Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union to be signed later this month, President Truong Tan Sang has said.
Vietnamese enterprises should try to raise the bilateral trade turnover with Russia to 20 billion USD by 2020 following a Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to be signed later this month, President Truong Tan Sang has said.

He expressed his hope of doubling the present goal of 10 billion USD by 2020 at his meeting with Vietnamese enterprises currently investing in Russia in Ho Chi Minh City on May 24, and explained that the agreement would move trade barriers.

Regarding the establishment of a Vietnam’s light industrial park in Russia, the President said enterprises should choose the location with well-established infrastructure to invest in. They should form a joint stock company to manage the park, in which Russia holds a 51 percent stake.

When the park opened, Vietnamese workers residing in Russia should be given priority to work there and provided with all necessary support in social insurance and housing, he said.

Garments and textiles, wood, plastics, aquaculture and food processing were the country’s best opportunities for investment in the Russian market, he said.

Tran Bac Ha, Chairman of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), said the light industrial park in Russia aimed to create more chances for Vietnamese enterprises to inject investments in Russia and improve the production of consumer goods for the market.

The light industrial park will cover 100-120 ha and is expected to provide production and trade assistance, product distribution as well as legal and logistics services.

There are 19 Vietnamese enterprises operating in Russia with 3,600 employees signing up to move in the park, which is expected to open in this September.

According to BIDV, Vietnam’s investment in Russia hit 2.5 billion USD in 2015 from 100 million USD in 2008.

In 2014, bilateral trade turnover between the two countries reached 2.6 billion USD.-VNA

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