Ba Ria - Vung Tau expects stronger ties with Russia's Rostov Oblast

Ba Ria - Vung Tau (VNA) – Leaders of the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau on February 20 had a meeting with a delegation of the Russian Federation Council led by its First Deputy Speaker Andrey Yatskin, who also represented the administration of Rostov Oblast, to discuss the two localities’ cooperation.

Welcoming the Russian delegation, Secretary of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Party Committee Pham Viet Thanh described his guests’ visit as a demonstration of the flourishing ties between Russia and Vietnam, including his province, and a contributor to the countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership.

Yatskin emphasised the long-standing bilateral relations, suggesting that aside from oil and gas, the two sides should explore cooperation chances in many other fields, including renewable energy.

For his part, Chairman of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau People’s Committee Nguyen Van Tho said the province is currently home to five investment projects worth 17.8 million USD from Russia. It also has two valid agreements with Russian localities at present, including the Nenetskiy autonomous region (signed in 2010) and the Republic of Bashkortostan (in 2017).

Meanwhile, Ba Ria - Vung Tau inked a cooperation deal with Rostov in 2000, but after years of implementation, their development directions have changed much. Therefore, the two provinces decided to terminate this agreement in 2022 to consider a new one.

Rostov Governor Golubev Vasily Yurievich pointed out cooperation prospects of the two sides in the fields his locality is strong at, including supplying cereals, cooking oil, oil refining equipment, and metal products; purchasing seafood and products of the light industry; and renewable energy.

At the working session, participants looked into potential cooperation areas and discussed agreements for signing./.