Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and Russiaare determined to raise their two-way trade to 10 billion USD by 2020 to createa turning point in bilateral trade relations.

According to statistics from the European –American Markets Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vietnam-Russiatrade has recorded strong growth, especially in the context of a free tradeagreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) taking effectlast year.

In the first seven months of this year,trade turnover between Vietnam and Russia reached nearly 2 billion USD, up 27percent year-on-year. Vietnam mainly exports mobile phones, garment andtextiles, coffee, rice, machinery and grain products to Russia.

According to economists, Russia is atraditional market for Vietnamese goods. Although trade value has increasedyearly, Russia’s demand for made-in-Vietnam commodities remains huge.

Bui Huy Son, head of the Trade PromotionAgency under the MoIT, said that trade fairs and exhibitions are an effectivechannel to connect the two countries’ businesses, associations andorganisations.

Therefore, to boost domestic production andexports, businesses should seek to approach trade promotion agencies in Russiathrough trade fairs and exhibitions, Son suggested.

Sharing experience in exporting products toRussia, Sergey Gusev from the EXPOCENTRE, said that his company has asubsidiary in charge of providing transportation services and customs servicesassistance.

Russia is considering the transport of goodsby train from Southeast Asia to Russia. If approved, this will help save timeand costs for businesses, he stated.

Viacheslav Kharinov, Chief Representative ofthe Russian Trade Office in Vietnam, stated that Vietnam is the first countrysigning a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EAEU, helping boostRussia-Vietnam trade.

Since the beginning of 2017, rapid increaseshave been seen in exports of cereals, coal, steel and chemicals from Russia toVietnam and exports of mobile phone components, electronic products, clothing,footwear and agricultural products from Vietnam to Russia, he added.

To make use of the FTA, Nguyen Khanh Ngoc,deputy head of the European – American MarketsDepartment, suggested Vietnamese businesses search for market information tounderstand EAEU member states’ demands and improve the quality of the theirproducts to make full use of the agreement’s advantages before the EAEU signssimilar deals with other countries.

According to Deputy Minister of Industry andTrade Hoang Quoc Vuong, the FTA between Vietnam and the EAEU became effective inOctober 2016, opening a huge opportunity for the two sides’ businesses.Vietnamese businesses can access a 183-million-people market with combined GDPof nearly 2.2 trillion USD.

Vuong also asked enterprises to increaseproduct quality and diversify products to raise their competitiveness.-VNA