Putin: Russia is ready to develop trade with other countries

BEIJING, November 11. /TASS/. Russia is open for dialogue on trade and economic cooperation with other countries, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday at the first working session of APEC leaders. “I’d like to say that Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Armenia are creating the Eurasian Customs Union precisely on the principles of openness, transparency and full compliance with the regulations of the World Trade Organization,” he said. “A considerable share of union’s trade falls on the Asia/Pacific region.” Putin added that trade with the regional countries exceeded 26% of Russia’s entire foreign trade in 2013. “We’re holding talks on a free trade area with Vietnam and we’re open for dialogue with other partners, including the ones who’re creating integrational associations,” Putin said. He recalled that Russia proposed to include a model chapter on transparency in the future agreements on free trade back in 2012 when it held a term of APEC’s rotating chairmanship. “Our partners in this region heeded the initiative and now it’s important to assure the broadest possible use of the model chapter in practice,” Putin said. Read more on itar-tass.com