Hanoi (VNA) – Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov gave positivecomments on the strategic partnership between Russia and Vietnam during aninterview recently granted to Vietnam News Agency.
Theinterview took place before his Vietnam visit on March 19-20 at the invitationof Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.
Lavrovsaid the leaders of the two countries at various levels have always maintainedtheir contacts.
Duringthe visit, he said he will discuss with Vietnamese officials preparations forthe “Year of Russia in Vietnam” and the “Year of Vietnam in Russia” scheduledfor 2019 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of a treaty onbasic principles for bilateral friendship.
Education,cultural exchange and humanitarian cooperation are traditional cooperationfields, he said.
Asregards bilateral cooperation potential, Lavrov said two-way trade surpassed 35percent to over 5.3 billion USD in 2017 – a record since 1991, partly thanks tothe signing of a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian EconomicUnion in 2015 which took effect in 2016.
Inorder to further lift bilateral economic-trade ties, he suggested encouragingregular contacts between industrialists and businesses to explore win-win opportunitiesor holding round-table seminars, exhibitions and fairs.
Apartfrom the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, he introduced the EasternEconomic Forum held annually in Vladivostok since 2015 where Vietnamese firmscould join to seek opportunities.
Hesaid Vietnam and Russia established a high-level working group which is taskedwith monitoring specific investment projects and expanding economic ties amongfirms working in mining, petroleum processing, energy, materials, transport, infrastructure,and information – communications.
Askedabout what Russia will do to further promote its position and role in the Asia-Pacificregion, Lavrov said Russia together with Vietnam, ASEAN member states and theirpartners will step up an agenda to ensure sustainable and stable securityarchitecture and development cooperation.
Russiahighly values ASEAN’s central role in facilitating the annual ASEAN forum onensuring regional security, the ASEAN defence ministers’ meeting withcounterparts of their partner countries, a series of meetings between ASEAN anddialogue partners, including Russia, and particularly the East Asia Summit (EAS)with key partners such as Russia, China, the US, India, Japan, the Republic ofKorea and Australia.
Withinthe EAS framework, Russia has so far underscored the need to launch an opensecurity and cooperation system in Asia-Pacific based on the principles ofequality and undivided security among the member countries, ensuring that notany country attempts to ensure its security at the expense of other nations, hesaid.-VNA
Vietnam, Russia exchange experience in social management
President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Tran Thanh Man expressed his hope that the VFF and the Russian Social Bureau (RSB) will step up cooperation and the sharing of experience in social management, contributing to conveying public opinions to all-level authorities.