Vietnamand Russia signed a treaty on fundamental principles of thefriendly relationship between the two countries on June 16, 1994,laying legal foundation for the relations in a new development period.
The two countries signed a joint statement onestablishing a strategic partnership in 2001 and upgraded therelationship to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership in2012.
Bilateral political ties and mutual trust haveunceasingly developed and strengthened through regular reciprocalvisits by high-ranking delegations. Most recently, Vietnamese PresidentTruong Tan Sang visited Russia in July 2012 and Russian Prime MinisterMedvedev paid a visit to Vietnam latter last year.
Both countries have effectively implemented the existing cooperationmechanisms, particularly the Vietnam-Russia Inter-governmental Committeeon Economic, Trade and Scientific and Technological Cooperation, annualStrategic Dialogue on Diplomacy-Defence-Security, and regular politicalconsultations between their Foreign Ministries.
They also worked closely at international forums, especially at theUnited Nations and within the framework of regional forums, such as theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and East Asia Summit(EAS).
Bilateral economic-trade ties enjoyed dynamicdevelopments, with two-way trade reaching nearly 2.45 billion USD in2012, a year-on-year increase of 23 percent. In the first three monthsof 2013, the two-way trade reached 734 million USD.
Vietnam ’s key exports to Russia include garments and textiles,agriculture and aquaculture products. Vietnam mostly imports petrol,steel, fertilisers, machinery and equipment from Russia .
By April, 2013, Russia ranks 18th among 101 countries andterritories investing in Vietnam , with a combined registered capitalof more than two billion USD in 93 projects. Russian investment focuseson mining, processing and manufacturing industries, banking, andtelecommunications. Meanwhile, Vietnam invested more than 1.7 billionUSD in 16 projects in Russia, mostly in oil and gas, banking andcommercial sectors.
In the field of energy, the twocountries achieved good results over the past time. Russia isimplementing a project to build the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant I.Oil and gas joint ventures, such as Vietsovpetro, Rusviepetro,Vietgazprom, and Gazpromviet, are operating efficiently.
The two countries also witnessed fine developments in cooperation in science and technology, education and training, andculture.
As many as 176,000 Russians visited Vietnam in 2012.-VNA