Kaluga (VNA) – General Secretary ofthe Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong continuedhis official visit to Russia on September 7 with a tour of Kaluga Oblast, oneof the most economically developed localities in the country.

At a working session with the Vietnamese leader, Russian Deputy Prime Minister AlexeyGordeyev affirmed that Vietnam is a friend and long-term partner of Kaluga. Thetwo sides have enjoyed win-win cooperation in economy, trade, investment,social sciences, and humanities.

He noted that the most positive improvement ofthe two countries’ relations is seen in economy and trade, with the trend continuingthis year and proving that the establishment of a free trade area between theEurasian Economic Union, of which Russia is a member, and Vietnam is a goodstep forward. He described the Vietnam-based TH Group’s construction of animalfarming complexes in Kaluga, and some other localities in Russia, as a brightexample of the bilateral partnership.

General Secretary Trong’s current trip to Kalugademonstrates that locality-to-locality cooperation is an important field in thecountries’ connections, Gordeyev added.

Trong said he was happy to visit Kaluga for thefirst time and witness the dynamic development of this oblast as one of thefastest growing localities of Russia, taking the lead in investment attractionand advanced technology application. He expressed his delight at the enormoussuccesses Kaluga has attained and wished it even stronger development in thefuture.

He highlighted that in the two countries’relations, economic, trade, and investment partnerships have played a pivotalrole. In their talks and meetings, the Vietnamese and Russian leaders sharedthe view that the outcomes of their bilateral relations has yet to match theirfull potential. To promote economic, trade, and investment ties, they need toactively remove obstacles and create favourable conditions for each other’senterprises to expand investment, production, and business activities.

TH Group is a private Vietnamese firm that hasbeen investing big in Russia, he said, thanking the Russian Government and theadministration of Kaluga and asking them to continue their creation of optimalconditions for Vietnamese investors, including TH Group, and therebycontributing to local socio-economic development and the increase of the twocountries’ relations.

Introducing local strengths, Kaluga Governor AnatolyArtamonov said dairy farming is a top priority for local agriculture. In 2017,the oblast produced more than 305,000 tonnes of milk and was the biggest milkproducer in Russia.

[Vietnam, Russia issue joint statement]

TH Group’s investment into a dairy factory in theKaluga Special Economic Zone holds special significance in terms of promotingcooperation between Vietnamese and Russian localities, he said, promising thatKaluga will create the best possible conditions for the plant to operate and alsoboost collaborations with Vietnam in other aspects.

The Governor also said his oblast wants toactively take part in activities as part of the Russian Year in Vietnam and theVietnamese Year in Russia in 2019. It also hopes to pair with a Vietnamese localityand will encourage Kaluga businesses to invest in the Southeast Asian nation.

General Secretary Trong welcomed his host’sproposals on activities to mark the upcoming important anniversaries ofbilateral ties in 2019 and 2020. He added that the Vietnamese side willintroduce a locality to pair with Kaluga so as to contribute to the overallexpansion of Vietnam-Russia relations.

Also on September 7, the Party chief attended aceremony to start the construction of TH Group’s dairy factory in the KalugaSpecial Economic Zone. The factory is expected to become one of the biggest andmost modern of its kind in Russia. Invested with some 150 million USD, it isset to cover 14ha and produce 1,500 tonnes of milk products per day onceoperational.

TH Group has invested 2.7 billion USD in dairycow farming and high-tech milk processing complexes, along with somefood-related projects, in Russia’s Moscow Oblast, Kaluga Oblast, PrimorskyKray, and the Republic of Bashkortostan.

General Secretary Trong applauded efforts by THGroup, the first private Vietnamese company to have invested in Russianagriculture. He called the factory in Kaluga the beginning of a new trend in thebilateral investment partnership of Vietnamese firms investing in Russia.

He voiced his hope that more Vietnamesebusinesses will invest in Russia, including Kaluga, to produce high-qualityproducts, create jobs for local people, and contribute to local development.–VNA