Moscow (VNA) - The implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) betweenthe Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) and Vietnam over the last two years wasreviewed at a workshop in Moscow, Russia on October 19.

Jointlyheld by the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia and the Institute of Economics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, theevent brought together over 60 delegates who are officials, experts, scholarsand researchers from many ministries and agencies of Russia and Vietnam.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Ngo Duc Manh said after two yearsimplementing the FTA, the trade turnover between Vietnam and member counties ofthe EAEU has recorded strong growth, from 3.04 billion USDin 2016 to 3.9 billion USD in 2017.

Participants to the workshop examined the impact of the agreement’s implementationon trade ties between Vietnam and EAEU member nations in general and withRussia in particular; and looked into difficulties and challenges facing Vietnameseenterprises when entering the EAEU market.

They alsoanalyzed the shortcomings and limitations that need to be addressed inimplementing the FTA and proposed solutions to them.

The participants agreed that despite the good growth in trade, potential of theFTA is yet to be fully tapped, saying that more efforts should be done toeffectively exploit the advantages brought by this agreement.

According to Le Truong Son, President of the Association ofVietnamese Businesses in Russia, despite the huge tax reduction schedule, non-tariffbarriers remain unchanged. Therefore, he noted that Vietnamese enterprises muststudy and develop suitable distribution models for their products.

Discussing steps to increase bilateral trade between Vietnamand EAEU in the near future, Director of the  Vietnam-ASEAN Research Centre under the FarEast Institute (Russia's Science Academy) VladimirMazyrin said the two sides should take measures to reduce costs of products,increase the competitiveness of goods, make better use of tariff preferences,and improve the method of payment and transportation.

The Vietnam-EAEU FTA was signed on May 29, 2015 between Vietnam and five EAEUcountries, including Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Ittook effect on October 5, 2016. The agreement contributes to boosting economicdevelopment in each country, and promoting bilateral trade, services andinvestment, and expanding cooperation in the region.-VNA