Around 50 countries in Europe and Asia show interest in cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"The EEU’s external relations are confidently expanding. Around 50 countries from Europe, Asia, and Latin America are showing interest in cooperation with the Union," Putin said at a roundtable on the second day of the Belt and Road Forum.
The President noted that negotiations are under way on agreement on trade and economic cooperation between the EEU and China, on free trade with Israel, as well as agreements on launching consultations with Egypt, Iran, India, Serbia and Singapore.
"In general, we are talking about the so-called big Eurasian partnership. It includes establishing multilateral cooperation with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. That was meant to create a system for simplifying bilateral and multilateral agreements in such spheres like customs, sanitary and phytosanitary control, field cooperation and investments, protection of intellectual property rights," TASS cited Putin as saying.
He stressed that developing such partnership is a long and painstaking process, demanding different depth, speed and level of integration, but it is extremely important to carry out such work, since in the end it will allow to form a single economic space from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
According to the President, Russia pays great attention to the development of the EEU. In recent years, the association has made serious progress in shaping and strengthening the common market. Activities of the EEU have made it possible to largely offset the impact of unfavorable economic conditions on the economies of the participating states, Putin noted.
