Moscow (VNA) – Vietnam and Russia have signed an intergovernmental Protocol on supporting the production of motor vehicles in the Southeast Asian country.
Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and and his Russian counterpart Denis Manturov signed the document in Moscow on March 21.
According to the Protocol, Vietnam will have an import quota of 2,500 automobiles over three years and 13,500 car components over five years. The local content of production will reach 40-50 percent by 2025.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Manturov said the Protocol is considered the first bilateral project to develop the free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), thus helping increase trade between the two countries in industrial investment and production.
Minister Hoang said Vietnam has long hoped to have automobiles manufactured in the country with a significant amount of localisation.
Therefore, the establishment of a joint-venture project assembling and manufacturing automobiles in Vietnam forms part of the FTA signed with the EAEU in May 2015, and the automobile industry’s planning strategy, he added.
The same day, the Vietnamese Minister had a working session with EAEU Minister in charge of Trade Veronika Nikishina.
The Minister is leading a Vietnamese delegation that is visiting Russia between March 20-22. He is scheduled to visit Belarus on March 23.-VNA