Serbia's Free Trade Deal With EAEU To Open Up 180 Mln Customer Market- Chamber Of Commerce

The prospective Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Serbia will open up a new market of 180 million customers to Serbian producers and extend the range of export products, Serbian Director of the International Economic Relations Sector at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Jelena Jovanovich told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2019) The prospective Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Serbia will open up a new market of 180 million customers to Serbian producers and extend the range of export products, Serbian Director of the International Economic Relations Sector at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Jelena Jovanovich told Sputnik.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic is currently in Moscow, where she is to participate in the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting between heads of government. The prime minister is expected to sign the FTA agreement with the EAEU later in the day.

"Serbia is a country with seven million people. The EAEU market is over 180 million people. If we take a closer look at Serbia's trade turnover with the EAEU, we can see that 90 percent of it accounts for Russia," Jovanovich said.

Trade turnover between Moscow and Belgrade in the first eight months of 2019 has increased compared to the same period in 2018, amounting to $2.

18 billion. Serbian exports have reached $661.1 million, with 35 percent in agriculture.

"The new deal opens up a wider range of products that Serbia will be able to export to the EAEU area. I hope that our producers, along with those from Russia and other countries, will take this opportunity," she added.

Serbian Trade Minister Rasim Ljajic told Sputnik earlier that the deal would allow Serbia to sign FTA agreements with two new partners - Armenia and Kyrgyzstan � as well as extend the range of export products, including goat and sheep cheese. Ljajic noted that 90,000 litres of vignac, the Serbian version of cognac, and 2,000 tons of cigarettes will also be added to the list.

Belgrade plans to increase trade with the EAEU from $1 billion to $1.5 billion.