Medvedev, New Zealand PM agree to draft free trade treaty

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13/11 Tass 104

YOKOHAMA, November 13 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia, the Customs Union states
and New Zealand will draft an agreement on free trade, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting with New Zealand's Prime Minister John
Key at an APEC summit here on Saturday.
"Our relations are developing quite well. Several events were held
recently that I hope will influence positively our relations. Particularly
we discussed the free trade issues. Such relations should connect us,"
Medvedev said.
"This is the initiative that we supported and I hope it will create a
new trade regime between our countries and in the customs zone, where
Russia is included," the Russian leader added.
John Key noted that the decision to draft an agreement on free trade
is a very important stage in the relations between Russia and New Zealand,
the most important stage for the past 65 years since the diplomatic
relations were established between the countries.
The New Zealand prime minister noted that a major amount of work is in
store for the negotiators and expressed hope that the agreement will be
finally reached.
Medvedev said he is satisfied that Russia and New Zealand succeeded to
reach concrete agreements on the sidelines of the APEC summit. "While we
are resolving general issues at our APEC summits, we have made a practical
decision with New Zealand," the Russian president underlined.
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