New impetus for VN-Russia comprehensive cooperation

State President Tran Dai Quang (R) and Russian President V. Putin – Photo: Sputnik

President V. Putin welcomed and praised the first official visit of Mr. Tran Dai Quang as the State President of Viet Nam to Russia.

He said Russia always regards Viet Nam as one of its prioritized partners in the Asia-Pacific Region. He was upbeat about a new impetus for the bilateral ties in the coming time.

State President Quang expressed his pleasure to visit Russia, praising the great achievements Russia has made in the cause of national modernization and development.

The Vietnamese Head of State affirmed Viet Nam’s consistent policy of attaching importance to cementing and deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia.

At the atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding, the two leaders exchanged views and approved a string of measures to beef up the bilateral ties.

They expressed their satisfaction at the political trust which had been unceasingly consolidated via regular reciprocal visits at all level, effective dialogue mechanisms. Especially, in 2017, the two countries witnessed important high-level diplomatic activities.

Both sides were satisfied at the economic and commercial linkages and agreed to strive for a US$ 10 billion two-way trade turnover by 2020.

They were unanimous in working closely to implement the free trade agreement between Viet Nam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) which took effect since October 2016; facilitate respective business and export operation, including negotiations for agreements in food safety, trade promotion, and payment of domestic currencies.

The two sides agreed to proactively conduct projects of priority, including petroleum joint ventures in Viet Nam and Russia, the light industry project in Moscow, TH Group projects in Russian localities; early establish joint ventures in automobile assembling and production in Viet Nam; research feasible projects in energy, infrastructure; and continually cooperate in nuclear power projects in favor of peaceful purposes.

The two sides pledged to continue to shake hands in national defense-security, especially in military technique; expand cooperation in other potential fields namely science-technology, education-training, culture, tourism, labor, and local cooperation.

The Vietnamese sides agreed to support Russia to host Russian cultural days in Viet Nam in 2017.

State President Quang took the occasion to thank Russian agencies for their support to the overseas Vietnamese community there and seek their further assistance for the community to serve as a positive bridge to promote exchanges of people and promote the bilateral ties.

The two leaders also exchanged view on regional and international issues of common concern and agreed to work closely at multilateral forums, including the UN, APEC, ASEM. The Russian side promised to cooperate with Viet Nam in favor of successful APEC 2017.

Mr. Quang invited Russian President V. Putin to pay an official visit to Viet Nam and attend the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. Mr. V. Putin thanked and accepted.

Both sides were unanimous in peaceful solutions to any disputes in the East Sea without using force or threat of force on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the fully and effective enforcement of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the early completion of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

After talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of important documents, including the Operational Regulation of the Viet Nam-Russia high-level working group on prioritized investment projects; a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and Rosatom group on the building of a nuclear science and technology research centre in Viet Nam; an agreement between the State Bank of Viet Nam and the Central Bank of Russia on anti- money laundering from crimes and anti-terrorism sponsoring; a cooperative agreement between the Viet Nam News Agency and Sputnik Agency; a MoU between the Viet Nam State Treasury and the Treasury of Russia; a cooperative program on space aviation between the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology and Roscosmos Group in the 2017-2022 period; a plan between Viet Nam Railways and Russian Railways.