Asean to evaluate FTA potential with EAEU
Published on: Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Kuala Lumpur: A meeting of Asean Senior Economic Officials (SEOM) in August will evaluate the potential of a free trade agreement between the regional grouping and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Malaysia needs to obtain consensus from among the other Asean members first and only then can discussions with Russia and the four other EAEU countries be initiated."Malaysia will always have an open ended approach towards trade and as a matter of principle, agree with the FTA proposal, as trade relations with Russia is at the moment rather restricted," he said after the AEC 2025 Dialogue here Tuesday.ADVERTISEMENT Last week, while at the Asean-Russia Summit in Sochi, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said members of the regional grouping had reached agreement to seriously the creation of an Asean-EAEU FTA.Apart from Russia, the other EAEU members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgszstan.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Russia has been an Asean dialogue partner since July 1996.It is estimated that the combined gross domestic product of Asean and the EAEU members is worth US$3.5 trillion with a total population of 700 million. – Bernama