President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will pay a state-level visit to Vietnam on November 12.

The visit will be made at the invitation of President Truong Tan Sang, the Foreign Ministry announced on November 1.

Vietnam and Russia established a strategic partnership in 2001 and upgraded the relationship to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2012.

Bilateral political ties and mutual trust have unceasingly developed and strengthened through regular reciprocal visits by high-ranking delegations. Most recently, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited Russia in May this year, President Truong Tan Sang toured the country in July 2012 and Russian Prime Minister Medvedev paid a visit to Vietnam later last year.

Both countries have effectively implemented the existing cooperation mechanisms, particularly the Vietnam-Russia Inter-governmental Committee on Economic, Trade and Scientific and Technological Cooperation, annual Strategic Dialogue on Diplomacy-Defence-Security, and regular political consultations between their Foreign Ministries.

They also worked closely at international forums, especially at the United Nations and within the framework of regional forums, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and East Asia Summit (EAS).

Bilateral economic-trade ties enjoyed dynamic developments, with two-way trade reaching 3.2 billion USD in 2012, a year-on-year increase of 19.7 percent. The two countries’ trade is expected to reach 4 billion USD this year.

Vietnam ’s key exports to Russia include garments and textiles, agriculture and aquaculture products. Vietnam mostly imports petrol, steel, fertilisers, machinery and equipment from Russia.-VNA