Ho Chi Minh City and Russia should further boost trade promotion activities, aiming to create favourable conditions for the two sides to seek cooperation and investment opportunities.

Vice Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Hong made the suggestion at a May 20 reception for a visiting delegation of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, led by Deputy Minister Evtukhov Viktor Leonhitdovich.

Hong added that her city is keen on further promoting the flourishing ties between Vietnam and Russia, notably in the fields of trade, investment and tourism.

She noted HCM City now has 19 projects invested by Russia with a combined capital of 40 million USD, adding that the trade turnover of only 400 million USD between the city and Russia was still modest.

For his part, Leonhitdovich highly valued the importance of HCM City to the Vietnamese economy, which he said helps further foster the collaboration between partners of Russia and the city, especially those operating in trade and finance-banking services.

He asserted that the visit aims at enabling Russian and Vietnamese businesses to discuss some industrial cooperation projects. He added the delegation had a working session with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, highlighting the issues of common concern and the possibility of signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries in the near future.

The guest also stressed that Russia always gives its first and foremost priority to enhancing links with Vietnam in trade and investment and other fields.-VNA