MOSCOW. July 30. KAZINFORM Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang looks into an opportunity for Vietnam to join the Customs Union of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. The Vietnamese leader made this statement at a press conference in Naryan-Mar, the Russian Federation, on 29 July, according to BelTA.

In his words, at the meetings with the Russian leadership there was discussed a possibility to expedite the negotiations to sign an agreement on free trade. "We have agreed to announce the start of negotiations on the free trade agreement at the APEC summit in Vladivostok in September 2012," the Vietnamese President stated. "We hope that with a strong political will of the leadership of our countries as well as of our Belarusian and Kazakhstani friends and partners, we will be able to launch this process soon and complete it as an agreement on Vietnam's accession to the Customs Union," he added.

He expressed confidence that the agreement on Vietnam's accession to the Customs Union would give a huge stimulus to mutual relations and trade.