Syria and the European Union (EU) said Tuesday they achieved progress towards a partnership agreement as they managed to overcome obstacles through "open and cooperative" negotiations, reported the official Kuwait news agency (KUNA).
Syrian Minister of Planning Esam al-Xaeem, at a joint news conference with Peter Zangl, Director of the Mediterranean and Public Relations Department at EU, said negotiations centered on liberalization of trade exchange, industrial and economic cooperation, and ways of removing custom obstacles on industrial and agricultural goods.
Zaeem said the Syrian side emphasized need of linking removal of custom fences and liberalization of Syrian industry with encouragement of investments, the agency cited him as saying.
He said the European side promised to consider the Syrian demands to be discussed in the next round of negotiations, due in Brussels on July 10-11.
The minister said both sides would coordinate on the political cooperation.
For his part, Zangl said negotiations paved way to establish a framework for ongoing consultations, adding today's talks succeeded in overcoming obstacles in a positive manner – Albawaba.com
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