Russia and Vietnam tighten co-operation

One of the most important topics between the two prime ministers marked measures to overcome difficulties in trade, with both sides aiming at 10 billion bilateral dollar trade revenue by 2020. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev congratulated The Vietnamese Communist Party for the successful 12^th Congress and Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc who made his state visit to Russia, his first after assuming office.

The two prime ministers also underscored their defence ties and co-operation on military technology, and other sectors such as science and technology, education and training, culture, tourism and labour. Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc appreciated that Vietnamese nationals were given favourable conditions to live and work in Russia.

The two men agreed that disputes in the East Sea should be dealt with through peaceful measures with the respect of international laws such as the 1982 United Nations Convention on theLaw of the Sea.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said: We have agreed on some specific issues based on our comprehensive strategic partnership. Vietnam and Russia will create better conditions to allow the greater flow of goods entering our countries. Tourism will also be our focus. We’re happy that bilateral trade turnover in the first 4 months has increased by 30% over the same period last year. We’re seeking solutions to overcome difficulties posed by the new era.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said: We reached consensus in creating favourable conditions for future joint-projects, for example tax preferences in the energy sector. We’re also aiming to expand our co-operation to new sectors, such as high technology, agriculture as these are important sectors in both countries. Russia is restricting agro-produce imports from the EU, and eyeing the Vietnamese market. In return, we’ll boost meat product exports to Vietnam.

The two prime ministers have witnessed the signing of many of Memorandum of Understandings between Vietnamese and Russian firms. Five of the eight deals signed were oil and gas related. PetroVietnam’s MOUs with Gazprom and Rosneft envisages exploring the possibility of using gas from joint projects from offshore Vietnam.