Syria Hopes to Sign Free Trade Deal With EEU at Union's Next Session

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – Syria expects the signing of a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) to be considered during the next session of the organization, a Syrian Economic Ministry official told Sputnik Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader Halqi told Sputnik that Moscow and Damascus were in talks on the possibility of Syria's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union and its free customs zone. A representative from the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) later in the day said that the EEU and Syria would start talks on a common free trade regime only after the end of the country's civil war and internal violence.

“We asked the EEU member states add Syria’s application to the agenda of the union's next session,” Rania Ahmad said, adding that Syria's membership would benefit both sides.

The official said that an accession to the EEU would help Syria attract private investment and result in increased economic activity.

"The EEU countries have a large consumer market and Syria is interested in selling its products on such a large market," Ahmad said.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is an international organization, which streamlines the movement of goods, services, capital and labor between Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The Kyrgyz government signed an accession treaty to the EEU but the move has not yet been ratified by all the current members of the union.

In the beginning of 2015, Syrian Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Humam Jazaeri expressed interest in his country joining the EEU.

Syria has been in a state of a civil war since the 2011 anti-government uprising. The country's authorities are fighting a number of rebel groups, including Islamic State extremists.