Vietnam and the EAEU are accelerating economic and trade cooperation.

After 10 years of implementation, the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement has achieved many positive results and is expected to perform even better in the future.

Trade turnover nearly doubled after 10 years.

From May 28-29, 2026, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long participated in the delegation accompanying Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung to the 5th Asia-Europe Economic Forum, combined with working visits to Astana, Kazakhstan.

The official delegation included Deputy Head of the Government Office Do Ngoc Huynh, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hoang Minh, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Nguyen Thanh Le.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long participated in the delegation accompanying Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung to the 5th Asia-Europe Economic Forum. Photo: Multilateral Trade Policy Department.

During the working trip, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long accompanied the Deputy Prime Minister in many important activities, including: attending the Plenary Session and thematic sessions of the Eurasian Economic Forum; participating in bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Forum with the Chairman of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission, Bakytzhan Sagintayev; the Vice President of the Republic of Cuba, Salvador Valdes Mesa; the Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, Natalya Petkevich; and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Overchuk; and visiting Nazarbayev University and the Astana Innovation Center.

The plenary session was the central event of the Forum, attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin; heads of state of EAEU member countries (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan), representatives of guest countries, international organizations, the business community, and experts, to exchange views on major trends in the global economy, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, enhanced connectivity, and promoting economic cooperation in the Eurasian space.

During the meeting with the Chairman of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), Bakytzhan Sagintayev, the two sides discussed the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (Vietnam-EAEU FTA) and directions for promoting cooperation in the future.

Specifically, Vietnam values ​​cooperation with the EAEU; highly appreciates the role of the EEC Council in promoting the effective implementation of the commitments of the Vietnam-EAEU FTA in recent years, and expresses pleasure at the very positive results that the agreement has achieved over the past 10 years, bringing practical benefits to businesses and people on both sides.

Both sides have completed the tariff reduction roadmap, under which approximately 88% of tariff lines have been completely eliminated or partially reduced, equivalent to over 90% of bilateral trade value.

Import and export turnover increased from US$3.04 billion in 2016 to US$5.94 billion in 2025, nearly doubling in 10 years. Many key products recorded high growth thanks to agreement benefits, such as seafood, coffee, pepper, cashew nuts, and textiles... to the EAEU market.

In the first four months of 2026 alone, Vietnam-EAEU trade reached US$2.26 billion (a 15.4% increase compared to the same period in 2025), with Vietnam's exports reaching US$1.21 billion, an 8.6% increase, and Vietnam's imports reaching US$1.05 billion, a 24.3% increase.

Removing obstacles and expanding digital and artificial intelligence cooperation with the EAEU.

In parallel, the Deputy Prime Minister also shared that there are still some obstacles that need to be overcome. Accordingly, Vietnam requested the EAEU to consider not continuing to apply the safeguard measures (Trigger) to Vietnamese textiles and garments, as this mechanism is no longer suitable for market practices and international norms. At the same time, Vietnam also requested the Russian Federation and the EAEU to further open the Vietnamese seafood market, including lifting the suspension and approving more eligible export businesses.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long and the delegation participated in side activities at the Forum. Photo: Multilateral Trade Policy Department.

The Chairman of the EEC Council expressed his gratitude to the Deputy Prime Minister for accepting the invitation and attending the Eurasian Economic Forum, and congratulated Vietnam on its many economic development achievements in recent years. Regarding the Vietnam-EAEU FTA, Mr. Bakytzhan also affirmed that the agreement has made a positive contribution to trade growth between the parties, and expressed his pleasure at witnessing the growth in bilateral trade turnover. He expressed confidence that with the positive results achieved, cooperation between the two sides will continue to develop strongly in the future.

Affirming their commitment to promoting exchanges with member countries to address Vietnam's concerns, they agreed to strengthen digital transformation, technology, and organize activities to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam-EAEU FTA; expressing their desire for the two sides to hold the 6th Session of the Joint Committee for the Implementation of the Vietnam-EAEU FTA in September 2026 in Moscow, Russia, and to soon sign the Protocol on the Electronic Verification and Certification System of Origin.

Regarding the issues raised by the Chairman of the EEC Council, Vietnam expressed its desire for both sides to maximize the role of the Joint Committee mechanism in implementing the agreement and stated its readiness to coordinate the organization of the 6th Joint Committee Meeting in 2026 to resolve any outstanding issues, meeting the cooperation needs and economic potential of Vietnam and the EAEU.

Regarding the Protocol on the Electronic Verification and Certification System of Origin, the Vietnamese and EAEU technical sides are currently exchanging views to finalize the remaining issues, mainly the technical aspects of the system.

During bilateral meetings with senior leaders of Cuba, the Russian Federation, and Belarus, both sides focused on discussing solutions and cooperation mechanisms to deepen relations between Vietnam and its partners, bringing practical benefits to both sides.

Notably, during a meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ovechuk, the Russian Minister of Trade stated that, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of ASEAN-Russia relations, scheduled to be held in Kazan from June 16-18, 2026, the Minister and the Russian Ministry of Trade are ready to work with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade to exchange views and resolve outstanding issues in bilateral trade relations as well as within the framework of the Vietnam-EAEU FTA, in order to further promote both bilateral and multilateral economic and trade relations in the future.

From May 28-29, 2026, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long participated in a delegation accompanying Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung to attend the 5th Eurasian Economic Forum with the theme "The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in global digital competition: Prioritizing artificial intelligence" and combined it with working visits to Astana, Kazakhstan.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/viet-nam-eaeu-tang-toc-hop-tac-kinh-te-thuong-mai-459150.html