Representatives from dozens of Vietnamese and Russian businesses came together in a meeting in Hanoi on October 22 to explore partnership opportunities.

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) said even though two-way trade reached 4 billion USD in 2013 and 1.52 billion USD during the first seven months of this year, the figure accounted for only 0.5 percent of Russia ’s total foreign trade turnover.

VCCI added that while Vietnam ’s exports to Russia increased during recent years, they lack diversity and the application of advanced technology. Meanwhile, domestic companies have failed to make use of technologies transferred from other countries, including Russia .

It is hoped that the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia will help Vietnam and Russia achieve the target of 7 billion USD in bilateral trade by the end of 2015, and 10 billion USD by 2020.

VCCI General Secretary Pham Thi Thu Hang said in order to achieve these objectives, the two Governments should support their business circles, particularly companies that use cutting-edge technologies and innovations, to step up their efforts to boost exports.

Nguyen Van Nam, an executive of the Leading Performance Vietnam company, said Russia is highly developed in the fields of energy, science and technology, which are Vietnam ’s weaknesses.

The meeting would help Vietnamese firms learn more about their Russian partners and seek cooperation opportunities to expand markets and improve their technological capabilities, he added.

Strozaeva Lubov Viktorovna, head of the “Russia-Vietnam: New Economies” project, said strengthening technological cooperation would contribute to the two countries’ strategic partnership.

She also asked Vietnam to work with Russia to organise an international conference in 2015 to explore cooperation prospects between high-tech businesses, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises.-VNA