Russian-Vietnamese investment promotion agreement may be updated - State Duma committee head

HANOI. Sept 29 (Interfax) - Russia is ready to amend the current Agreement on the Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments with Vietnam, State Duma Economic Policy Committee Chairman Maxim Topilin said on Sunday.

"We agreed to look into how to improve the agreement on freedom of investment," Topilin told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the Committee on Interparliamentary Cooperation between the State Duma and the Vietnamese National Assembly.

"This agreement has been in effect for 30 years, but much has changed during this time," he said. "I think there is room for improvement in terms of protective mechanisms, stabilization clauses, and investor rights. We will definitely discuss this issue with the Economic Development Ministry," Topilin added.

"Such an agreement was literally recently signed and will be ratified by the State Duma with the People's Republic of China during the autumn session," he said.

Topilin is a member of the State Duma delegation, led by speaker of the lower house of Russian parliament Vyacheslav Volodin, which is on an official visit to Vietnam.