World Bulletin / News Desk

Russia approved a draft free trade zone agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and Vietnam on Monday, according to a statement on the Russian Cabinet website.

Vietnam is the first country to sign a free trade agreement with the union, which consists of Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Russia.

“Implementation of the Agreement will boost bilateral trade and promote trade and economic ties between its participants; it will also solve the problem of involving the Eurasian Economic Union in integration processes in the Asia-Pacific region,” the statement said.

The Eurasian economic union, which has a combined population of 170 million people and a GDP of $2.7 trillion, aims at the free movement of goods, services and capital, coordinated policies in agriculture and industry, cooperation in major infrastructure projects and the formation of joint energy markets for natural gas and petroleum products.