With trade on the upswing, Russia and Mongolia stare at expanding bilateral ties

Russia and Mongolia have great potential for expanding bilateral cooperation in many areas, M.V. Vasiliev, trade representative of Russia to Mongolia, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Sunday.

“We believe it is correct to set a common goal to increase 10 times the trade turnover between our countries in the next 10 years and to fill our cooperation with new major projects,” he said.

Last year, the trade volume between Russia and Mongolia amounted to $1.4 billion, an increase of 46.9 percent compared with 2016.

This year, according to the National Statistical Office of Mongolia, the bilateral trade volume increased by 40 percent in January-July compared with the same period last year.

Overall, bilateral trade continues to develop steadily at an accelerated pace, Vasiliev said.

In order to accelerate the integration of the two economies, it should be a priority for Mongolia and the Eurasian Economic Union to reach a free trade agreement, he said.

Currently, projects in the sphere of energy and transport cooperation are dynamically moving forward, he said.

The Russian trade representative also highlighted the importance of developing road infrastructure within the framework of the Central Railway Corridor, saying there are interesting proposals from the business and investment community on transforming the railway corridor into a channel of mega-projects cooperation.

He also mentioned the ancient Tea Road, which the three countries are trying to revive.