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Free trade agreement with EAEU of great importance for Serbia, says deputy PM

Last year, Serbia’s trade with the EAEU countries reached 3.4 billion euro, with exports standing at 1.1 billion euro and imports - 2.3 billion euro

BELGRADE, October 25. /TASS/. The free trade zone agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is of major importance for Serbia, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic told TASS on Friday.

"The agreement has a great economic significance as it opens access to a market embracing 180 million people for Serbian companies. These agreement covers 99% of Serbian commodity which will be exempt from customs duties, which will create favorable conditions for further successful cooperation in other sectors, along with trade," he said.

"So, we expect new investments from both the EAEU countries and from the countries of the European Union which can also benefit from this agreement if they manufacture their products in Serbia. Obviously, this agreement will create a still more favorable climate in political relations and any other relations between Russia and Serbia, and these relations will influence practical spheres, in particular, the economy," Ljajic stressed.

He said he expected a growth in trade with the EAEU after the signing of this agreement. "I would like to note that as of today as many as 743 Serbian companies export their goods to the Russian market, offering more than 1,200 types of commodity. Plus four more countries, it will mean a boost in Serbia’s trade with EAEU nations," he stressed.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Serbia signed a free trade zone agreement on Friday. It was inked on the sidelines of a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Rumas, Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin, and Kyrgyz Prime Minister Mukhammedkala Abylgaziyev.

The new agreement will supersede Serbia’s free trade agreements with Russia (of 2000), Belarus (of 2009), and Kazakhstan (of 2020). Serbia had no free trade agreements with Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.

Serbia’s trade with the EAEU countries reached 3.4 billion euro in 2018, with exports standing at 1.1 billion euro and imports - 2.3 billion euro.

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