Russian PM to visit Vietnam on Jan 14-15
MOSCOW. Jan 10 (Interfax) - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will visit the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on January 14-15 for talks with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, the Russian government's press service said.
"The heads of government will discuss key issues of trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Vietnam. Special attention will be given to the implementation of joint projects in energy, transport, industry, agriculture and other sectors," the press service said.
A number of joint documents will be signed based on the talks' outcome.
During the visit to Hanoi, Mishustin will also meet other senior officials from Vietnam's government and parliament, including General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and President of Vietnam Luong Cuong, the Russian government's executive office said in a statement.
The implementation of the agreements reached during Russian President Vladimir Putin's state visit to Vietnam on June 19-20, 2024 will be high on the talks' agenda, the statement said.
Russia and Vietnam established bilateral diplomatic relations on January 30, 1950, it said. The two countries gave strategic status to their ties in 2010, and in 2012 proclaimed a comprehensive strategic partnership, which is among Russia's foreign policy priorities. This meets the interests of both Russia and Vietnam and helps maintain peace and the region's sustainable development.
In 2025, Russia and Vietnam will mark 75 years of establishing bilateral diplomatic relations, and a number of other anniversaries. These include the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, with To Lam already invited to the upcoming celebrations in Moscow, the declaration of Vietnam's independence on September 2, 1945, and the 50th anniversary of the liberation of southern Vietnam from U.S. troops on April 30, 1975.
"Trade and economic cooperation has been developing progressively. In 2023, bilateral trade went up 8.3% and increased 23.7% in January-September 2024, including owing to the free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union [EAEU] countries and Vietnam [which entered into force in October 2016. Vietnam became the first state with which the EAEU signed such an agreement]," it said.
The two countries' intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, co-chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Hong Ha, has also been functioning efficiently.
"The fuel and energy sector is a strategic area of cooperation between the two countries. Its flagship is the Vietsovpetro joint venture. Approximately 243 million tonnes of oil have been produced since the deposits were put into operation [in 1986]. Rusvietpetro, formed by the Vietsovpetro participants, has been engaged in hydrocarbon production in the Nenets Autonomous Region of Russia since 2008. It has extracted about 33 million tonnes of oil. Gazprom has also been operating on the continental shelf of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," the statement said.
Vietnam-Russia Joint Venture Bank was opened in 2006. The bank has its headquarters in Hanoi and branches across the country, offering a wide range of services and acting as the main instrument of servicing bilateral foreign trade operations.
"The parties attach great importance to humanitarian exchanges. The Days of Culture of Vietnam in Russia, held in Moscow and St. Petersburg [on July 1-7, 2024], were a success. The ceremony to unveil a monument to Vietnamese soldiers who fought in the Battle of Moscow during the Great Patriotic War took place at the Patriot Park on August 12, 2024," the statement said.
Vietnam was one of the most popular travel destinations for Russian tourists before the Covid-19 pandemic. The resumption of Moscow-Ho Chi Minh direct flights by Aeroflot and IrAvia flights from Irkutsk to Hanoi, Phu Cuoc and Nha Trang has helped gradually increase the tourist flow from Russia to Vietnam. A total of 125,000 Russians visited Vietnam in 2023. This number reached 177,000 in January-October 2024.