Participants heard that Vietnam recorded a strongeconomic rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic, and experienced a growth of 8.02%in 2022. The Southeast Asian nation welcomed 3.7 million foreign tourists inthe year.
The workshop also highlighted the significantcooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas sector, exemplified bythe two joint ventures, VietXoPetro in Vietnam and RusVietPetro in Russia.
In his speech, the Vietnamese Consulate Generalin Vladivostok Nguyen Dang Hien stressed that Vietnam’s efforts to maintainmacroeconomic stability and improve the investment environment have helped thecountry become a reliable destination for foreign investors.
There remains huge potential for the two countries to expand trade and tourism cooperation,he said, noting that it is necessary to resume direct flights between Vietnamand Russia and set up tourism promotion offices in each country.
The Russian government may also consider visa exemption for Vietnamese touristsfor 15 days to stimulate tourism demand, he added.
Meanwhile, chief of the Vietnam trade mission in the Far East Nguyen Hong Thanh saidthe region plays an important role in the Russian government's "pivot to the East" policy.
According to Thanh, themost prominent event in the economic and trade relations between the Far Eastregion and Vietnam is the resumption of a container shipping route by FESCOto deliver goods from Hai Phong and HCM City of Vietnam to Russia, and vice versa.
FESCO is planning to build a transshipment point at HCM City port to forwardRussian goods to further markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand,Myanmar, and India and vice versa.
Besides FESCO, other operators such as OOO Transit and AO Transinergi have alsostarted operating maritime routes from the Far East to Vietnam, Thanh said.
He noted that the Far East will be a good investment destination for Vietnamesebusinesses if there is a channel to provide sufficient information for theVietnamese business community.
Vietnamese enterprises can consider cooperating with partners in the Far East regionin potential fields such as civil and industrial construction, furniture production,coal and mineral mining, high-tech development, and food processing, he said./.