The Russian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, Nikolai Dmitrievich Ubushiev, has said that several programmes to expand cooperation between regions and cities in Russia and Vietnam have been exceptionally successful.

Addressing a ceremony to mark the 19th Russia Day (June 12) held in the city on June 11, the Russian diplomat highlighted the excellent progress of the two countries’ strategic partnership in the fields of oil and gas, banking, education and training, transport and communications.

He also said that the two countries will together mark the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on the Fundamental Principles of Friendly Relations between Vietnam and Russia on June 16.

The President of the Vietnamese-Russian Friendship Association in HCM City , Hoang Huu Nghia, congratulated Russia on its gigantic achievements in politics, economics, science and technology and expressed his belief that the country will develop into an equal society that is prosperous and democratic.

Over the years HCM City has built up a relationship with three Russian cities, including Sverdlovsk in 2000, Moscow in 2003 and Saint Petersburg in 2005.

The cities have all agreed to exchange information and cooperate in economics, trade, science and technology, infrastructure development, transport, urban management, environmental protection, tourism, education and culture.

Russian specialists have undergone a feasibility study of a sub-way project in HCM City . A project to build a HCM City Trade Centre in Moscow is also in progress and will hopefully be fully operational before the end of the year./.