Chile, EEU Discuss Free Trade Deal

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

08 October 2015

Delegates from Chile and the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), the executive body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), comprising Armenia, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, met on October 3 to discuss a free trade agreement (FTA).

This was the first meeting of the Joint Commission on Trade and Investment set up by the two sides.

During the meeting, Pablo Urria, the CEO of Chile's General Directorate for International Economic Affairs (DIRECON), said that Chile is eager to sign an FTA with the EEU. He urged the two sides to continue working on developing an agenda that will lead to the implementation of an FTA in the medium term.

In June of this year, Chile and the EEU signed a cooperation agreement with a view to eventually concluding an FTA. The areas of cooperation covered by the agreement include tariffs, transport, energy, and agriculture.

In 2014, trade between Chile and Russia grew by 18 percent year-on-year, reaching USD828m. Chile's exports to Russia accounted for USD768m, while Russia's exports to Chile totalled USD60m.

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