MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/. Issues of co-operation between Moscow and Hanoi will be in the focus during an official visit of the delegation of the State Duma lower house of Russia’s parliament to Vietnam led by speaker Sergei Naryshkin, the house staff said on Tuesday.
The Russian parliamentarians will hold a number of meetings with Vietnamese top officials “to discuss current bilateral co-operation issues.” Naryshkin also plans to address students of Hanoi University.
State Duma vice speaker Ivan Melnikov previously supposed that the negotiations would focus on “strengthening parliamentary co-operation.” He added that the visit would be held in the run-up to important dates for bilateral relations: the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relation that will be marked in late January 2015 and the 40th anniversary of liberation of the south of Vietnam and reunification of the country, as well as the 70th anniversary of declaration of independence of Vietnam and the jubilee of the World War II victory.
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong told TASS in an exclusive interview in November that the current level of practical interaction between Russia and Vietnam was so far below the existing potential and aspirations, although the bilateral relations in general are developing successfully.
“Against the background of the relentless consolidation and development of political relations between the two countries characterised by a high degree of mutual trust the two countries have also successfully developed multifaceted co-operation in such areas as trade, economy, energy, defence, security, education and training, science and technology, culture and humanitarian sphere, attaining important results,” Nguyen Phu Trong said.
Thus, the volume of bilateral trade from $300-400 million a year in the 1990s rose to nearly $4 billion in 2013. In the sphere of the fuel and energy complex, where the Vietsovpetro JV was the first, three new joint ventures, work very successfully both in Vietnam and Russia - Rusvietpetro, Vietgazprom and Gazpromviet, have appeared.
According to the Vietnamese leader, Moscow and Hanoi have also achieved positive results in the development of co-operation such spheres as mining, metallurgy, education and training, science and technology, space. The two states have established a high-level working group for the support and promotion of priority investment projects for giving an impetus to further boosting the bilateral investment co-operation volume.
“In the coming period, we need to continue our actively and synchronous efforts to expand the interstate relations in all areas of co-operation - ranging from foreign political contacts to economic co-operation, giving priority to the three main spheres trade, investment and energy,” said Nguyen Phu Trong.