Russia is looking to enhance cooperation with Vietnam in manufacturing trucks, coaches, and cars as part of a plan to increase its presence in the Vietnamese auto industry, Russian Ambassador Konstantin Vnukov said in a press conference in Hanoi on Wednesday.

According to the Russian ambassador, the price of Russian automobiles manufactured in Vietnam would be comparatively competitive.

The ambassador’s statements came in response to the free trade agreement that recently came into effect between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), of which Russia is a member.

The EAEU is a five-member economic union of states located primarily in northern Eurasia, consisting of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.

Vietnam became the first country to ink a free trade deal with the EAEU in May last year, when the two parties signed an agreement that would remove bilateral import tariffs.

Addressing a reporter’s question on the prospects of low-cost Russian cars, retailing at around VND200 million (US$8,929) each, hitting the Vietnamese market in the near future, a Russian trade representative said that various uncalculated factors make it impossible to give immediate estimates on the price of Russian vehicles in Vietnam.

Dang Hoang Hai, director at the Department of European Markets under Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, said time would be needed to calculate the total costs and excise tax rates before a market price could be established.

Vietnam imported $730 million worth of products from Russia in the first eight months of 2016, with coal, steel, fertilizers, and automobiles amongst the top imports, according to figures provided by Vietnam Customs.

In the same period, Vietnam made $1 billion exporting 26 groups of products to Russia, the most common of which were phones, phone components, coffee, textiles, and electronics.

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