MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu and his Vietnamese counterpart Army General Phan Van Giang signed an inter-governmental agreement on bilateral military-technical cooperation, the Defense Ministry of Russia reported on Wednesday.

"On December 1, Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu held a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang. Upon the completion of the meeting, the ministers signed a bilateral inter-governmental agreement on developing military-technical cooperation and an inter-agency memorandum on cooperation in the field of military history," the ministry said.

As the Russian defense chief pointed out at the meeting, Russia and Vietnam "have accumulated unique experience of joint work based on years-long friendship and mutually advantageous cooperation."

"We invariably pay priority attention to interaction in the military and military-technical spheres. Vietnam is a key state of the Asia-Pacific region that has modern and well-equipped armed forces," the Russian defense minister said.

This year, Vietnam became the first country in Southeast Asia that hosted competitions of the 2021 International Army Games, Shoigu recalled. "The competitions were held at a high level and with the big support of your country’s military and political leadership," the Russian defense chief said, addressing his Vietnamese counterpart.

The defense chiefs of Russia and Vietnam discussed the prospects of bilateral military and military-technical cooperation and mapped out plans of their joint work for the future, the ministry reported.

The meeting "confirmed the mutual willingness to consistently build up versatile cooperation between the defense ministries of both countries," the Russian Defense Ministry said.