President Tran Dai Quang’s official visits to Russia and Belarus were a success, and their fruitful outcomes have made the relations between Vietnam and the two countries more comprehensive and effective, stated Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son.

President Tran Dai Quang (left) and Russian President Putin

The Deputy FM said that President Quang’svisits, spanning from June 26 to July 1, markeda strong progress in the increasingly practical partnership with the two traditional and promising partners.

The visits were the first ones made by the President to the two countries since he took office in 2016, which coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Russia October Revolution, the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam-Belarus diplomatic ties, and the fruitful period of the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union free trade agreement.

At meetings with President Quang, Russian leaders affirmed that the country considers Vietnam one of the priorities in the Asia-Pacific region and is keen on boosting cooperation with Vietnam in all fields, he noted.

The President also held meetings with representatives of the business community, localities, the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association and Russian veterans who spent time in Vietnam who expressed their wish to contribute to further tightening the Vietnam-Russia ties.

Meanwhile, Belarus leaders, especially President A. Lukachenko, highly valued the traditional relationship with Vietnam, regarding the Southeast Asian nation as a trustworthy partner in Southeast Asia.

The two sides shared hope and determination to deepen their friendship and cooperation and lift the ties to a new height.

During the visits, Vietnam signed 14 cooperation agreements with Russia and nine deals with Belarus in various fields, including economy, defence, security, sports and tourism, natural resources and environment, science-technology and cooperation between localities.

According to Son, following the visits, Vietnam and Russia issued a joint statement, while President Tran Dai Quang and his Belarusian counterpart A. Lukashenko signed a joint declaration on the comprehensive and extensive development of the bilateral partnership.

President Tran Dai Quang and Russian and Belarusian leaders agreed to optimize the advantages of the Vietnam-EAEU free trade agreement to create a strong boost to economic-trade collaboration, targeting 10 billion USD in trade with Russia and 500 million USD with Belarus by 2020, he said.

Vietnam and Russia concurred to focus on increasing investment and set up joint ventures, while effectively implement prioritised cooperation projects in oil and gas, energy, machinery manufacturing and automobile assembling, and expanding collaboration to agriculture, transport infrastructure building, and telecommunication.

At the same time, Belarus is willing to cooperate with Vietnam in areas ofVietnam’s demand, including automobile assembling, infrastructure building, IT, chemicals and agriculture. The Vietnam-Belarus automobile assemblingjoint venture MAZ Asia is scheduled to become operational in late 2017.

The Deputy FM went on to say that during the visits, the Vietnam-Russia and Vietnam-Belarus economic seminars were successful, showing businesses’ determination to tap opportunities from the Vietnam-EAEU free trade agreement.

Vietnam and Russia agreed to continue strengthening cooperation in atomic energy, affiliation among localities, and partnership in education and training as well as organising Russian Culture Days in Vietnam in 2017.

Vietnam and Belarus shared the wish to bolster cooperation in science-technology, culture, education-training, ICT and connections among localities.

Both countries also pledged to coordinate closely with Vietnam at multilateral mechanisms.

Son also stressed his impression at a meeting between President Tran Dai Quang and war veterans and experts of Russia and Belarus who devoted their youth to Vietnam. President Quang said Vietnam is always grateful to the people of Russia and Belarus for their whole-hearted support.

During his stay, President Quang paid special attention to the Vietnamese communities in the host countries, added Son.

President Tran Dai Quang concludes official visit to Russia

President Tran Dai Quang concludes official visit to Russia on July 1

President Tran Dai Quang, his spouse and a Vietnamese delegation left Saint Petersburg city on July 1, concluding a four-day official visit to Russia at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier on the same day, the Vietnamese President met Governor of Saint Petersburg city Georgy Sergeyevich Poltavchenko in the Smolny City Hall and representatives of local businesses.

The Governor said Vietnam is a key and important partner of the city, adding that the relations between the city and Vietnamese localities, particularly Ho Chi Minh City and the southern province of Khanh Hoa, have been built on firm foundations.

He mentioned his visit to HCM City in December 2015 during which the two sides signed numerous agreements on trade and tourism.

Georgy Sergeyevich Poltavchenko underlined education – training as an important aspect in the cooperation between his city and Vietnamese localities, saying that thousands of Vietnamese officials have been trained in Saint Petersburg, which is now home to more than 300 Vietnamese students.

Around 25 cooperation agreements have been signed between Saint Petersburg and Vietnamese universities. The city houses the first Ho Chi Minh Institute outside the territory of Vietnam.

Trade between Saint Petersburg and Vietnamese provinces and cities reached 100 million USD in the first quarter of this year, the Governor said, expressing his belief that the effective Vietnam-EAEU free trade agreement will help boost the figure.

Besides businesses effectively operating in Vietnam, many others from the city have eyed investment in the country, particularly in areas of their strength such as mechanical engineering, electricity device production, port infrastructure development, and water treatment, he said.

He expressed his belief that the official visit of President Tran Dai Quang will create an important impetus for the economic, trade and investment ties between Vietnam and Russia, including Saint Petersburg.

He revealed that his city plans to launch the first-ever photo exhibition featuring late President Ho Chi Minh at the Ermitage Museum in May 2019, as part of the activities to mark the 25th anniversary of the treaty on the basic principles for Vietnam-Russia friendship.

For his part, President Tran Dai Quang expressed his admiration for the significant achievements the city has made, saying that it deserves to be an economic, cultural, tourism and educational hub of Russia.

Expressing his delight at the fruitful multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Russia, the President spoke highly of the efforts made by the localities of the two nations to consolidate the relationship.

The regular exchange of delegations has contributed to boosting Vietnam-Russia economic and trade ties, he said, adding the effective collaboration between the two countries’ localities will be a factor propelling the bilateral relationship. Two-way trade value between Vietnam and Russia reached 1.1 billion USD in the first four months of this year.

In addition to enhancing cooperation in traditional sectors like oil and gas, energy, education and culture, the two sides have expanded collaboration to new fields, including automobile manufacturing, space cooperation for peace, railway, and infrastructure construction.

Hailing the fine connection between Saint Petersburg and Vietnamese localities, the President affirmed that Vietnam will continue creating the most favourable conditions for the relationship to develop in a more practical and effective manner.

Also on July 1, the Vietnamese State leader and his entourage visited the Monument to Lenin in the Smolny City Hall and the ongoing eighth International Maritime Defence Show MVMS-2017 at the Lenexpo exhibition complex in the city.

He also visited the ancient Ekaterina Palace - one of the architectural icons of Russia and the world - in Pushkin city, around 30 kilometres south of Saint Petersburg.

VNA