ASEAN - EAEU free trade area will be formed in 2019

On August 5, Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev said that a free trade area (FTA) between the members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Association of the Southeast

The announcement to establish an FTA between ASEAN and the EAEU was made at the Russia-ASEAN Summit in Sochi in May 2016, but the ministers of participating countries have just agreed to start the work.

Mr. Alexei Ulyukayev stressed that agreements reached at Sochi will play a key role to develop the FTA. He added that the EAEU and ASEAN would create a research group and senior officials have already received relevant instructions with an aim to achieve results as early as possible. He also revealed that all involved countries are interested in the project, however some ASEAN countries need more information about the EAEU cooperation mechanism.

The EAEU member states include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

ASEAN and EAEU had a combined GDP of 3.5 trillion USD and population of 766 million. Currently, Vietnam is the first country in ASEAN to sign a free trade agreement with the EAEU.