(VOVworld) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed the free trade agreement (FTA) between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Vietnam on Tuesday.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (Photo: VNA)

The pact was ratified by the House of Representatives of Belarus on May 25. First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aleksander Mikhnevich said the pact will boost cooperation between the two sides and helping Belarus’s products make inroads into Vietnam. He added that Vietnam’s membership in ASEAN will help Belarus’s exporters approach the regional market.

The EAEU, which comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan, signed the deal with Vietnam in May 2015, the first FTA signed with a third partner.  The deal initially exempts from customs taxes about 60 percent of goods traded between the two sides. By 2025, the deal will exempt for nearly 90 percent of all goods. It applies measures to protect, prevent, and compensate that accord with to regulations of the World Trade Organization. So far, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan have ratified the deal.