The announcement was made following a meeting between Dung and Khristenko in Hanoi during the latter’s working visit to Vietnam. 

Dung affirmed that Vietnam will do its utmost to successfully complete the negotiations with member states of the Customs Union, for mutual benefits and fairness. 

They both agreed that the FTA will open up opportunities for cooperation in economics, trade and investment between the two sides. 

Later the same day, the two chief negotiators, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and Trade Minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission Andrey Slepnev signed a joint notice on the first working session between the two sides. 

During this session, the two sides will discuss in details about the scope and areas covered by the FTA, and the structure and methods of negotiations. They will especially consider the sensitive areas of each country and a disparity in the development levels between parties concerned.

The two ministers agreed that once the FTA is signed, the continued trade and investment liberalisation will help raise bilateral trade value to US$10 billion and beyond before 2020. It will also help foster the political, economic, trade, investment and cultural relations between Vietnam and the Customs Union.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and the Customs Union hit US$2.7 billion in 2012. 

VOV