Vietnam embassy boosts cooperation with Russian parliamentarians

Moscow (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Ngo Duc Manh had a working session with the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group at the Russian Federation Council on March 11.

At the meeting, Victor Semenovich, who is head of the friendship group, praised the continuous development of the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership, with frequent exchanges of high-level delegations taking place across Party, State, parliament, and government channels.

Semenovich said he is willing to push the issue of legal documents to help realise agreements signed within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union-Vietnam free trade agreement, towards raising Vietnam-Russia trade to 10 billion USD in 2020, as targeted by the two leaders.

Agreeing with the Russian side on the two countries’ cooperation potential, Ambassador Manh noted that bilateral trade hit 4.57 billion USD last year, up 28.6 percent from 2017.

Vietnam is now ranked first among Russia’s trade partners from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and sixth among those from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc.

Regarding the promotion of collaboration between Vietnamese and Russian localities, Manh said the embassy has worked to sustain and develop the ties between several Vietnamese cities and their Russian partners such as Hanoi and Moscow, Ho Chi Minh City and St Petersburg, Da Nang and Yaroslav, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau province and Nenetsky.

The embassy also helped establish cooperative ties between Nghe An province and Ulyanovsk, as well as between Ha Tinh province and Tula, he added.

The diplomat also suggested the Russian side create favourable conditions for Vietnamese expatriates.

Earlier, in late February, the ambassador held a similar meeting with the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group at the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. –VNA