Vietnamese and Russian leaders have agreed to speed upnegotiations and signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) betweenVietnam and the customs alliance of Russia, Belarus andKazakhstan.
VietnamesePresident Truong Tan Sang and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedevreached the consensus during their meeting in Moscow on July 26. The meeting took place right after a welcome ceremony for the Vietnamese leader.
Both leaders said that the FTA will open up great prospects forincreasing economic, trade, investment and service cooperation betweenthe two countries.
They planned to announce thestart of negotiations on the FTA in September on the occasion of theAPEC Summit in Vladivostok.
The twoofficials noted with satisfaction the positive development ofVietnam-Russia trade ties with the value expected to hit 3 billion USDin 2012.
However, the figure remains too modest compared to the two nations’potential and demand, they said, adding that such an FTA is needed toincrease two-way trade in the future.
President Sang and PM Medvedev shared the view that the strategicpartnership between Vietnam and Russia has developed strongly andeffectively over the past time.
Bilateralpolitical relations have been further strengthened while cooperation ineconomics-trade, science-technology, security-defence,education-training, culture and tourism has been continuously expanded,they said.
The two sides spoke highly of strategiccooperation projects Vietnam and Russia are jointly implementing,especially those in oil and gas and nuclear power, including the NinhThuan 1 nuclear power plant.
PM Medvedev affirmedthat Russia will continue to pay attention to energy cooperationprojects with Vietnam and create favourable conditions for the twocountries’ oil and gas joint ventures to carry out signed contracts andexpand oil and gas exploration and exploitation in Russia .
President Sang also assured his host that Vietnam will create allfavourable conditions for Russian oil and gas businesses to continuecooperation in oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the country’scontinental shelf.
The two sides agreed to seeknew areas of cooperation, while helping Vietnamese businesses to takepart in development project in Russia’s Far Eastern region as well asRussian companies to do business in Vietnam.
The leaders were pleased with the results of bilateral cooperation innational defence and military technique, and added that Vietnam andRussia should continue to strengthen ties in education-training,science-technology, culture and tourism.
Theyalso exchanged views on expanding relations between the Communist Partyof Vietnam and the United Russia Party led by Medvedev, including theexchange of high-level visits.
President Sangthanked the Russian Government for creating favourable conditions forVietnamese people residing legally in Russia and integrate well intothe local communities.
On the same day, PresidentSang met with Vietnamese embassy staff and representative of theVietnamese community in Russia .
Russia’smass media, including ITAR-TASS and RIA-Novosti news agencies, "RussiaState” TV Channel and “Channel One”, praised the effectivecooperation between Vietnam and Russia over the past time.
They quoted PM Medvedev as saying that the visit of VietnamesePresident Truong Tan Sang is of special significance to bilateral ties.
Medvedev said the two countries’ cooperation intrade and humanitarian activities is very effective and Vietnam andRussia have established a regular dialogue mechanism in all issues.
On this occasion, the Kremlin press service issued a press releasehighlighting the all-faceted cooperation results between Russia andVietnam, especially in education and tourism.
More than 52,000 Vietnamese have received under-graduate and graduatetraining in Russia, while nearly 6,000 others are currently studyingin the country.
Meanwhile, the number of Russianstravelling to Vietnam has increased significantly following Vietnam’s move to exempt visa for Russian tourists staying within a 15-dayperiod. A total of 780,000 Russian visited Vietnam in 2011, up 53percent year-on-year and the figure for the first five months of thisyear reached 870,000.-VNA
VietnamesePresident Truong Tan Sang and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedevreached the consensus during their meeting in Moscow on July 26. The meeting took place right after a welcome ceremony for the Vietnamese leader.
Both leaders said that the FTA will open up great prospects forincreasing economic, trade, investment and service cooperation betweenthe two countries.
They planned to announce thestart of negotiations on the FTA in September on the occasion of theAPEC Summit in Vladivostok.
The twoofficials noted with satisfaction the positive development ofVietnam-Russia trade ties with the value expected to hit 3 billion USDin 2012.
However, the figure remains too modest compared to the two nations’potential and demand, they said, adding that such an FTA is needed toincrease two-way trade in the future.
President Sang and PM Medvedev shared the view that the strategicpartnership between Vietnam and Russia has developed strongly andeffectively over the past time.
Bilateralpolitical relations have been further strengthened while cooperation ineconomics-trade, science-technology, security-defence,education-training, culture and tourism has been continuously expanded,they said.
The two sides spoke highly of strategiccooperation projects Vietnam and Russia are jointly implementing,especially those in oil and gas and nuclear power, including the NinhThuan 1 nuclear power plant.
PM Medvedev affirmedthat Russia will continue to pay attention to energy cooperationprojects with Vietnam and create favourable conditions for the twocountries’ oil and gas joint ventures to carry out signed contracts andexpand oil and gas exploration and exploitation in Russia .
President Sang also assured his host that Vietnam will create allfavourable conditions for Russian oil and gas businesses to continuecooperation in oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the country’scontinental shelf.
The two sides agreed to seeknew areas of cooperation, while helping Vietnamese businesses to takepart in development project in Russia’s Far Eastern region as well asRussian companies to do business in Vietnam.
The leaders were pleased with the results of bilateral cooperation innational defence and military technique, and added that Vietnam andRussia should continue to strengthen ties in education-training,science-technology, culture and tourism.
Theyalso exchanged views on expanding relations between the Communist Partyof Vietnam and the United Russia Party led by Medvedev, including theexchange of high-level visits.
President Sangthanked the Russian Government for creating favourable conditions forVietnamese people residing legally in Russia and integrate well intothe local communities.
On the same day, PresidentSang met with Vietnamese embassy staff and representative of theVietnamese community in Russia .
Russia’smass media, including ITAR-TASS and RIA-Novosti news agencies, "RussiaState” TV Channel and “Channel One”, praised the effectivecooperation between Vietnam and Russia over the past time.
They quoted PM Medvedev as saying that the visit of VietnamesePresident Truong Tan Sang is of special significance to bilateral ties.
Medvedev said the two countries’ cooperation intrade and humanitarian activities is very effective and Vietnam andRussia have established a regular dialogue mechanism in all issues.
On this occasion, the Kremlin press service issued a press releasehighlighting the all-faceted cooperation results between Russia andVietnam, especially in education and tourism.
More than 52,000 Vietnamese have received under-graduate and graduatetraining in Russia, while nearly 6,000 others are currently studyingin the country.
Meanwhile, the number of Russianstravelling to Vietnam has increased significantly following Vietnam’s move to exempt visa for Russian tourists staying within a 15-dayperiod. A total of 780,000 Russian visited Vietnam in 2011, up 53percent year-on-year and the figure for the first five months of thisyear reached 870,000.-VNA
