Russia will further strengthen its economic and trade cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the country’s Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexey Likhachev has announced.

Likhachev asserted that the inevitable cooperation trend between the two sides is based on their export structure and attractive economic growth, noting two-way trade has seen a sharp increase over the past years.

He also remarked the two sides’ economic links are still modest, which he said was attributed to poor infrastructure in the Russian Far East, the country’s nearest location with Asia, barriers in customs formalities and a lack of comprehensive information on each market.

He stressed there is great cooperation potential between the two sides, especially in energy, agriculture and advanced technologies.

Russia has been a dialogue partner of ASEAN for the past decade. Last year, two-way trade reached 17.5 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 12 percent.

VNA