Russian PM’s visit to bolster comprehensive strategic partnership

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will pay an official visit to Vietnam from April 5-7 amid remarkable progresses seen across sectors in the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will pay an official visit toVietnam from April 5-7 amid remarkable progresses seen across sectorsin the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

On January 30, 1950, the then Democratic Republic ofVietnam and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the Soviet Union)officially set up diplomatic relationship.

Forty-four years later on June 16, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam andthe Russian Federation signed an agreement on basic principles onbilateral friendship, forming a legal foundation for their relations inthe following years.

The countries inked a joint statement on lifting their ties to the strategic partnership on March 1, 2001.

On July 27, 2012, they issued another joint statement on enhancing their comprehensive strategic partnership.

Political relations between the nations have been continuallyconsolidated as evidenced by regular all-level delegations exchanged,notably the official Russia visits by Party General Secretary Nguyen PhuTrong in November 2014, President Truong Tan Sang in July 2012, PrimeMinister Nguyen Tan Dung in May 2013, and National Assembly ChairmanNguyen Sinh Hung in March 2013.

Official tours toVietnam by Russian leaders include those by President Vladimir Putin inMarch 2001 and November 2006, and by Dmitry Medvedev serving as thePresident and Prime Minister in October 2010 and November 2012,respectively.

The countries established an annualstrategic dialogue on diplomacy-defence-security at the deputy foreignministerial level in 2008 and set up a strategic dialogue at the deputydefence ministerial level in 2013. They have also held regular politicalconsultations at the deputy foreign ministerial level.

Vietnam and Russia have shared viewpoints on a number of regional andinternational issues, closely coordinated and supported each other atinternational forums such as the United Nations, the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the ASEAN Regional Forum, and theASEAN-Russia framework.

Their economic cooperationhas strongly developed over the past years but still remains far behindpotential. Vietnam and Russia recognised each other’s market economy in2007.

Two-way trade reached 2.7 billion USD (3.97billion USD according to Russia’s data) in 2013 and 2.55 billion USD(3.74 billion USD according to Russia’s data) in the following year.

It faced continued downward trend in the first months of this yearwith 133 million USD worth of Vietnamese exports and 58 million USDworth of Russian shipments in the January – February period.

Vietnam mainly exports telephones, garments, agro-forestry-fisheryproducts to Russia while importing gasoline, steel, fertiliser,machinery, and equipment from the East European country.

On December 15, 2014, Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union thatgroups Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed a joint statement onbasically concluding the negotiation on a bilateral free tradeagreement. The agreement is expected to be officially signed in thefirst half of 2015.

Russia currently ranks 17 thamong 101 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 106projects worth nearly 2 billion USD, focusing on the mining, processing,and manufacturing industries.

Meanwhile, theSoutheast Asian country is now running 19 projects valued at 2.47billion USD in Russia, mainly in oil and gas and trade.

Energy is a traditional cooperation area greatly benefiting bothnations. Besides expanding cooperation in the joint venture Vietsovpetrountil 2030, the countries have set up other joint ventures, namelyRusvietpetro, Vietgazprom and Gazpromviet to continue oil and gascollaboration in Vietnam, Russia, and beyond.

Theyalso inked an inter-governmental cooperation agreement on building anuclear power plant in Vietnam on October 31, 2010.

In addition, cultural exchanges have been held regularly, contributingto promoting the two peoples’ mutual understanding and friendship.Russia is among the 10 countries having the most number of tourists toVietnam with 364,000 arrivals in 2014, increasing from 300,000 in 2013and 176,000 in 2012.

In the past, the Soviet Uniongave training for nearly 40,000 Vietnamese officials and experts. Russiapledged to provide more than 790 graduate and post-graduatescholarships for Vietnam in 2015, a surge from 600 in 2014.

About 5,000 Vietnamese students are studying in Russia and the twocountries have agreed to work towards the establishment of aVietnam-Russia university of technology in the ASEAN country.

Cooperation between their localities have also been fostered throughthe exchange of delegations and the signing of cooperation agreements,such as that between Vietnam’s Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and Russia’sMoscow and Saint Petersburg.

Since 1991, Vietnam andRussia have inked more than 100 cooperation documents in variousfields, ranging from economics, oil and gas, nuclear energy,education-training, to culture-science, and military technique.

Theupcoming Vietnam visit by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, meantto deepen bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, will reviewthe implementation of their prioritised tasks in 2014 along with seekingways to foster ties in all spheres in 2015.-VNA

See more

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

PM meets with Kazakh, Turkmen, Ethiopian leaders

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had brief meetings with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedow, and Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed on the sidelines of the expanded BRICS Summit in Kazan city of Russia on October 23 evening (local time).

The seminar brings together Vietnamese researchers in Russia, young scientists of Vietnam and China, and experts from other specialised fields. (Photo: VNA)

Seminar spotlights Vietnam studies in Russia

An international seminar titled "Current issues in Vietnam studies” took place at the Centre for Vietnam and ASEAN Studies (CVAS) of the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia under the Russian Academy of Sciences on October 23.

PM meets with Chinese top leader on sidelines of BRICS+ Summit

PM meets with Chinese top leader on sidelines of BRICS+ Summit

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting with General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the expanded BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 23 (local time).

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Kazan on October 23 evening (local time). (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese PM meets with Turkish President in Russia

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Kazan on October 23 evening (local time) within the framework of his trip to Russia for attendance at the expanded BRICS Summit.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Lao Party General Secretary and State President Thongloun Sisoulith in Kazan, Russia, on October 23 when attending the expanded BRICS Summit. (Photo: VNA)

PM Pham Minh Chinh meets Lao top leader

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Lao Party General Secretary and State President Thongloun Sisoulith in Kazan, Russia, on October 23 (local time), while there to attend the expanded BRICS Summit.

Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Tinh. (Photo: VNA)

Party leader’s article creates new vitality to building, perfection of rule-of-law socialist State: Official

Party General Secretary To Lam’s article entitled “Promoting Party characteristics in building a law-governed socialist State in Vietnam” brings a breath of fresh air and creates new vitality to the promotion of building and perfecting the Vietnamese rule-of-law socialist State of the people, by the people, and for the people in a faster and more effective manner, commended Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Tinh.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh arrives in Kazan city of Russia (Photo: VNA)

PM arrives in Kazan, starting trip to attend BRICS Summit

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam arrived in Kazan city of Russia on October 23 morning local time), beginning his two-day trip to attend the expanded BRICS Summit, at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, Chair of BRICS 2024.