Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a State visit to Vietnamon November 12 at the invitation of President Truong Tan Sang. On thethreshold of the visit, President Putin wrote an article entitled“Russia-Vietnam: Together to new cooperation goals” featuring thedevelopment of relations between the two nations.
Following is the unofficial translation of the article:
Ahead of my third visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, I wouldlike to take this opportunity to directly address Vietnam 's publicand share some thoughts on the future of our bilateral relations.
Russian-Vietnamese friendship has stood the test of time, havinglived through the numerous tragic events of the 20 th century, drasticchanges in the world as well as in our countries. The main thing hasalways remained the same, however – respect towards each other,traditions of confidence and mutual assistance, ability to appreciateselfless support of the partners that will never betray.
In this context, let me quote famous words of President Ho Chi Minh:"When you drink water, think of its source." I consider that phrase tobe a spiritual instruction to the present and future generations ofcitizens of our countries. One should always remember our common historyand everything that unites us. This guarantees continuity and stabilityof future-oriented relations.
We are happy withmajor achievements reached by Vietnam on its path towards importanteconomic and social reforms. Russia addresses complex nationalissues as well. We believe that active involvement in the integrationprocesses, both at global and regional levels, is a powerful resourcefor development. We attach particular importance to cooperation with theAsia Pacific States among which Vietnam is one of the leadingcenters of growth.
The positions of ourcountries on issues relating to the global agenda are similar in manyaspects. Together we seek answers to new challenges and threats. Weuphold the rule of law in international relations and advocate that noalternative political or diplomatic tools should be used for resolvingdisputes and that every state has a right to choose it own path ofdevelopment.
All these factors determine theintensity of Russian-Vietnamese strategic partnership which we canrightly call comprehensive. Last year, bilateral trade increased by 20percent and amounted to 3.66 billion USD. We expect that it will reach 7billion USD as early as 2015 and increase up to 10 billion USD in 2020.
The signing of a free trade area agreement(FTA) between the member states of the Customs Unions and Vietnamwould contribute to achieving these objectives, which corresponds to thelogic of political and economic integration in Eurasia and theAsia-Pacific region. The negotiations on a FTA are under way, and wehope to successfully complete them.
Energy, oiland gas sectors have traditionally played a key role in the developmentof Russian-Vietnamese industrial and investment cooperation. Forinstance, our leading joint venture Vietsovpetro has accumulated aunique technological expertise of working on the continental shelf. Overthe years, the company has produced 206 million tons of oil and itstotal profits account for tens of billions of dollars.
The companies Rosneft and Gazprom increase their presence inVietnam. Their projects relate to the production of hydrocarbons,modernization of refining capacities and supply to Vietnam of theliquefied natural gas from the Russian Far East.
Let me emphasize that our oil and gas cooperation is two-way andreciprocal. Rusvietpetro is an example of a successful joint venturein the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district. We also expect a lot ofanother joint company Gazpromviet which has started the developmentof oil and gas fields in the Orenburg region and other Russianterritories.
Our cooperation in energy goes farbeyond hydrocarbon production. Russia helps Vietnam to develop anuclear industry which is a totally new sector for the country. Rosatomwill be responsible for the construction of the first Vietnamesenuclear power plant in the province of Ninh Thuan . The first andsecond nuclear units are scheduled to be launched in 2023 and 2024,respectively. Plans are being discussed to jointly construct a NuclearScience & Technology Centre.
Peaceful use ofouter space and Russia's GLONASS satellite navigation system, air andrail transportation development, engineering, mining, banking and publichealth seem to be very promising areas of cooperation. The goal of theabove projects and initiatives is to improve our investment, technologyand industrial collaboration.
Our military andtechnical cooperation has taken a totally new dimension. It is nolonger limited to export supplies, steps are being taken to launch inVietnam licensed production of advanced military equipment with theassistance of Russian companies.
We have alwaysbeen proud of the traditions of humanitarian cooperation in the field ofeducation, science and culture. It is meaningful that this yearVietnam (except for the CIS countries) has been allocated the highestquota for staff training in Russian educational institutions. Todayabout 5,000 citizens of Vietnam receive education in Russia, about2000 of them study under inter-State agreements.
I should underline the joint activities of our scientists, includingmany years of work of the Russian-Vietnamese Tropical research andtechnological center. Specialists all over the world highly appreciatethe results of its applied and fundamental research.
My visit takes place during the Days of Russian culture in Vietnam. We are pleased to see that our Vietnamese friends are trulyinterested in our art. On their turn Russian citizens are waiting forthe Vietnamese cultural workers to come to visit Russia . I am surethat the Days of Hanoi in Moscow in late November this year willhave great success. Such exchanges have already proved their importance.We intend to continue this practice.
Thenumber of Russians visiting Vietnam shows the willingness to learnbetter rich history and culture of the Vietnamese people. Last year thisnumber doubled and for nine month of this year it has grown up by 66percent having risen beyond 200,000 people. I think that this tendencywill continue taking into account the successful development of touristinfrastructure in Vietnam.
It is difficultto enumerate the areas in which Russia and Vietnam do not developfruitful cooperation. I expect that the future high-level negotiationsin Hanoi will be constructive as usual and will give new momentum tothe strategic partnership between our States and peoples.-VNA
Following is the unofficial translation of the article:
Ahead of my third visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, I wouldlike to take this opportunity to directly address Vietnam 's publicand share some thoughts on the future of our bilateral relations.
Russian-Vietnamese friendship has stood the test of time, havinglived through the numerous tragic events of the 20 th century, drasticchanges in the world as well as in our countries. The main thing hasalways remained the same, however – respect towards each other,traditions of confidence and mutual assistance, ability to appreciateselfless support of the partners that will never betray.
In this context, let me quote famous words of President Ho Chi Minh:"When you drink water, think of its source." I consider that phrase tobe a spiritual instruction to the present and future generations ofcitizens of our countries. One should always remember our common historyand everything that unites us. This guarantees continuity and stabilityof future-oriented relations.
We are happy withmajor achievements reached by Vietnam on its path towards importanteconomic and social reforms. Russia addresses complex nationalissues as well. We believe that active involvement in the integrationprocesses, both at global and regional levels, is a powerful resourcefor development. We attach particular importance to cooperation with theAsia Pacific States among which Vietnam is one of the leadingcenters of growth.
The positions of ourcountries on issues relating to the global agenda are similar in manyaspects. Together we seek answers to new challenges and threats. Weuphold the rule of law in international relations and advocate that noalternative political or diplomatic tools should be used for resolvingdisputes and that every state has a right to choose it own path ofdevelopment.
All these factors determine theintensity of Russian-Vietnamese strategic partnership which we canrightly call comprehensive. Last year, bilateral trade increased by 20percent and amounted to 3.66 billion USD. We expect that it will reach 7billion USD as early as 2015 and increase up to 10 billion USD in 2020.
The signing of a free trade area agreement(FTA) between the member states of the Customs Unions and Vietnamwould contribute to achieving these objectives, which corresponds to thelogic of political and economic integration in Eurasia and theAsia-Pacific region. The negotiations on a FTA are under way, and wehope to successfully complete them.
Energy, oiland gas sectors have traditionally played a key role in the developmentof Russian-Vietnamese industrial and investment cooperation. Forinstance, our leading joint venture Vietsovpetro has accumulated aunique technological expertise of working on the continental shelf. Overthe years, the company has produced 206 million tons of oil and itstotal profits account for tens of billions of dollars.
The companies Rosneft and Gazprom increase their presence inVietnam. Their projects relate to the production of hydrocarbons,modernization of refining capacities and supply to Vietnam of theliquefied natural gas from the Russian Far East.
Let me emphasize that our oil and gas cooperation is two-way andreciprocal. Rusvietpetro is an example of a successful joint venturein the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district. We also expect a lot ofanother joint company Gazpromviet which has started the developmentof oil and gas fields in the Orenburg region and other Russianterritories.
Our cooperation in energy goes farbeyond hydrocarbon production. Russia helps Vietnam to develop anuclear industry which is a totally new sector for the country. Rosatomwill be responsible for the construction of the first Vietnamesenuclear power plant in the province of Ninh Thuan . The first andsecond nuclear units are scheduled to be launched in 2023 and 2024,respectively. Plans are being discussed to jointly construct a NuclearScience & Technology Centre.
Peaceful use ofouter space and Russia's GLONASS satellite navigation system, air andrail transportation development, engineering, mining, banking and publichealth seem to be very promising areas of cooperation. The goal of theabove projects and initiatives is to improve our investment, technologyand industrial collaboration.
Our military andtechnical cooperation has taken a totally new dimension. It is nolonger limited to export supplies, steps are being taken to launch inVietnam licensed production of advanced military equipment with theassistance of Russian companies.
We have alwaysbeen proud of the traditions of humanitarian cooperation in the field ofeducation, science and culture. It is meaningful that this yearVietnam (except for the CIS countries) has been allocated the highestquota for staff training in Russian educational institutions. Todayabout 5,000 citizens of Vietnam receive education in Russia, about2000 of them study under inter-State agreements.
I should underline the joint activities of our scientists, includingmany years of work of the Russian-Vietnamese Tropical research andtechnological center. Specialists all over the world highly appreciatethe results of its applied and fundamental research.
My visit takes place during the Days of Russian culture in Vietnam. We are pleased to see that our Vietnamese friends are trulyinterested in our art. On their turn Russian citizens are waiting forthe Vietnamese cultural workers to come to visit Russia . I am surethat the Days of Hanoi in Moscow in late November this year willhave great success. Such exchanges have already proved their importance.We intend to continue this practice.
Thenumber of Russians visiting Vietnam shows the willingness to learnbetter rich history and culture of the Vietnamese people. Last year thisnumber doubled and for nine month of this year it has grown up by 66percent having risen beyond 200,000 people. I think that this tendencywill continue taking into account the successful development of touristinfrastructure in Vietnam.
It is difficultto enumerate the areas in which Russia and Vietnam do not developfruitful cooperation. I expect that the future high-level negotiationsin Hanoi will be constructive as usual and will give new momentum tothe strategic partnership between our States and peoples.-VNA
