The visit to Vietnam by President V. Putin contributes largely to reinforcing and intensifying the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership.

The view was shared by Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their talks in Hanoi on November 12.

In the atmosphere of friendship, trust and mutual understanding, the Presidents kept each other informed of their respective country’s foreign policy, and socio-economic and political affairs.

They exchanged views on bilateral relations, and regional and international issues of mutual concern.

The two Heads of State spoke highly of the lifting of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, noting that it charters new result-orientated opportunities for the two countries to step up mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide range of fields.

Both agreed that the two countries’ political relations are growing robustly with increasing trust. They also agreed to continue high-level exchanges and contacts, and broaden cooperative channels through the Party, State, Government, National Assembly, Ministries, sectors and localities.

The Presidents took note of sound developments in bilateral trade, which is estimated to hit four billion USD in 2013, and increases in investment.

They, however, shared the view that the outcomes of economic, trade and investment cooperation do not yet match the two sides’ political relations, the size of their economies and potential is yet fully tapped.

The Heads of State were unanimous on the need to take breakthrough measures to push up trade and investment links.

Priority will be given to the early signing of a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus in the time to come and the successful deployment of priority investment projects which were identified by the high-level working group led by the two Trade Ministers.

Presidents Sang and Putin also underlined that priority will be given to energy cooperation, in which the cornerstone is oil and gas and nuclear power cooperation.

They said they back and provide possible conditions for companies and joint ventures to carry out the current projects and establish new ones in both Vietnam and Russia.

Both agreed to speed up joint cooperation in the building of the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant No.1 using the latest technologies to ensure absolute safety, the highest quality and efficiency for the facility. They also agreed to press ahead with close cooperation in the training of nuclear experts.

The leaders affirmed to continue to work together in mining, transport (including civil aviation), shipbuilding, machinery manufacturing, communications and telecommunications.

They emphasised the need to actively step up result and efficiency-orientated cooperation between localities and study possibilities to work together in building a light industry zone in Russia’s Far East Region.

Both sides gave high estimations to cooperation in defence and military technique, which has enjoyed high trust and conformed with regulations and principles of international law, contributing to ensuring peace, stability and sustainable development in Asia-Pacific.

They agreed to reinforce security cooperation, boost information sharing and consult widely on issues of mutual concern, work together in countering international terrorism and crime, and strengthen technical and training cooperation.

The two Presidents agreed to adopt specific orientations and measures to realise the policy of raising bilateral cooperation in science-technology and education-training to a strategic level.

They emphasised the need to implement a project to set up the Vietnam-Russia University of Technology in Hanoi and improve the efficiency of the Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre.

Both leaders acknowledged remarkable contributions by Vietnamese people living and studying in Russia as well as those by Russian citizens in Vietnam in preserving and promoting the traditional friendship, mutual support and comprehensive cooperation between the two States and their people.

They agreed to continue creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese and Russian people living in each other’s territory in line with the two countries’ laws and in the spirit of friendship and the comprehensive strategic partnership.

The two sides showed a high degree of unanimity in regional and international issues of common concern, affirming the continued strengthening of coordination in the international arena.

They stressed the importance of Vietnam-Russia cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum as well as in regional structures in which ASEAN plays a core role such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting Plus (ADMM+), saying that it helps foster peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world at large.

President Putin thanked the Vietnamese side for its warm welcome to him and his entourage. He invited President Truong Tan Sang to visit Russia in an appropriate time, which the latter accepted with pleasure.

Concluding the talks, the two Presidents witnessed the signing of a series of important cooperation documents in various fields, including inter-governmental agreements on training Vietnamese citizens in Russia, the transfer of sentenced prisoners and defence cooperation; and agreements between the two sides’ ministries and agencies, and economic contracts.-VNA