Vietnam, Russia leaders to discuss ways to forward all-round ties

President Tran Dai Quang will pay an official visit to Russia from June 28 to July 1

The information was provided by President Quang during an interview with Russia’s TASS and Sputnik news agencies ahead of the trip, his first official visit to Russia as President.

He said during the visit, he will convey the respect of the Vietnamese Party and people to President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev and other Russian leaders and people. He will also reiterate his country’s policy of considering Russia a trustworthy strategic partner.

President Quang and President Putin, along with other Russian leaders, will discuss bilateral cooperation and specify measures to foster ties in different areas, especially the implementation of the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), of which Russia is a member.

The Vietnamese side will affirm that the country always provides the best possible conditions for Russian enterprises’ in Vietnam. It will also ask Russia to continue collaboration in defence, security, science-technology, education-training, culture, tourism and labour, along with locality-to-locality cooperation and create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community there.

The sides will exchange viewpoints on regional and global issues of shared concern, including bilateral cooperation in APEC Year 2017 and within the framework of ASEAN-Russia cooperation, he added.

The President expressed his delight at the growth of Vietnam-Russia relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1950 and the formation of a strategic partnership in 2001, which was elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership in July 2012.

Relations have been increasingly strengthened through regular delegation exchanges and meetings at all levels, consultations and strategic dialogues, he noted, adding that Vietnam welcomes President Putin’s attendance of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Da Nang city later this year.

President Quang said the two sides have cooperated and supported each other at multilateral forums such as the UN, APEC, the Asia-Europe Meeting and ASEAN-Russia.

Their economic and trade connections have also been developing. Oil and gas cooperation projects are being implemented in both countries and bilateral trade is growing, reaching 2.7 billion USD in 2016 – up 25 percent from 2015. The figure increased by 30 percent to 1.1 billion USD in the first four months of 2017. The expansion of the partnership in auto assembly and production also shows promise.

The leader said he values the fact that Vietnam is the first country with which the EAEU inked a free trade agreement. He believes the effective enforcement of this deal will create new momentum for trade between Vietnam and Russia, as well as between Vietnam and the EAEU with targeted trade revenue of 10 billion USD by 2020.

Affiliations in defence-security, science-technology, education-training and culture-tourism have also been tightened. Cultural exchanges have been held regularly. Russia is one of the 10 biggest sources of foreign tourists to Vietnam. More than 430,000 Russian tourists came to Vietnam in 2016, up 12.8 percent year on year.

President Quang said the Vietnam-Russia friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership are developing soundly in all fields. Their cooperation potential remains huge, and they need to bolster cooperation and capitalise on both sides’ advantages, thus developing bilateral relations in a more effective manner.