Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and Russia agreed on many measures to promote theirbilateral relations during the 22nd session of the Inter-governmentalCommittee for Economic-Commercial and Scientific-Technological Cooperation inHanoi on October 29.

The meeting was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dungand his Russian counterpart Maxim Akimov.

The two sides vowed to implement high-level agreements reached during theofficial visit to Russia by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last May.

They highly valued the dynamic development of the bilateral economic, trade andinvestment ties over the recent past, with two-way trade reaching 4.5 billionUSD in 2018, up nearly 30 percent as compared with 2017, making Vietnam the biggesttrade partner of Russia in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

They shared the views that investment cooperation has been expanded as more andmore Vietnamese and Russian businesses have invested in major projects in thetwo countries, operating in such areas as agriculture, energy and transport.

Apart from oil and gas, Russia is running 123 foreign direct investment (FDI)projects worth about 1 billion USD in other fields in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Vietnamesefirms have invested in 20 projects valued at nearly 3 billion USD in Russia.

However, trade collaboration has yet to match potential of both sides, they pointedout, suggesting Vietnamese and Russian governments, ministries and agenciestake drastic measures to enhance commercial cooperation.

The two Deputy PMs concurred to consider removing non-tariff barriers in trade,especially those related to agricultural products, seafood, garments-textilesand footwear. 

In the oil and gas sphere, Deputy PM Dung said Vietnam always welcomes andcreates favourable conditions for Russian companies to increase their presenceand carry out oil and gas exploration and exploitation projects in Vietnam’scontinental shelf.

On his part, Deputy PM Akimov affirmed Russia’s continued support for Russianoil and gas firms to expand cooperation with their Vietnamese partners,including partnerships in other realms like liquefied natural gas (LNG) andgas-fuelled electricity.

The two sides also lauded initial results of bilateral collaboration ine-Government and smart city building, and agreed to push ahead with a jointproject on the construction of a research centre for science and nucleartechnology in Vietnam.

They said Vietnam and Russia have good prospects to expand partnerships in suchareas as high-tech, health care, finance-banking, science andeducation-training.
At the end of the session, the Deputy PMs witnessed the signing of cooperationagreements in the banking sector, and attended a ceremony introducingtransactions using Russia’s MIR cards in Vietnam.

The next meeting of the committee will be held in Russia in 2020.

On this occasion, Deputy PM Dung and his Russian counterpart attended anddelivered speeches at the 2019 Vietnam-Russia Business Dialogue jointly held bythe Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Russian council ofentrepreneurs.

These activities form part of Deputy PM Akimov’s official visit to Vietnam fromOctober 28-30./.