The Vietnamese Embassy in Russia hosted a meeting between Vietnamese and Russian business circles and pressmen on Jan. 25 on the occasion of the traditional New Year.

Addressing the function, Ambassador Bui Dinh Dinh reviewed important events in Vietnam-Russia bilateral relations in 2010, including the Russia visit by former Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and State President Nguyen Minh Triet; President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Vietnam, the celebration of 60 years of Vietnam-Russia diplomatic ties and the second Russia-ASEAN Summit in Hanoi.

The activities have helped consolidated traditional ties between the two countries, lifting the strategic partnership to a new height, the ambassador said.

In 2010, five groups of Russian reporters from Russian news agency TASS, Russia Today newspaper and Voice of Russia came to Vietnam to cover information on important events, he said.

The ambassador also affirmed contributions made by Russian and Vietnamese businesspeople and enterprises to the development of bilateral economic cooperation.

Director of the International Cooperation Department of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergey Vasiliev, Deputy Director of the Asia Department under the Russian Foreign Ministry Igor Khovaev and representative of the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Cooperation spoke highly of the long-lasting relations and strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia.

They also mentioned effective cooperation between the two enterprises in economic areas, especially in oil and gas exploration and atomic energy as well as contributions of mass media in popularising information on events which took place in Russia and Vietnam.

The same day, the Vietnamese embassy in Egypt held a get-together for the Vietnamese community on the occasion of the Lunar New Year./.