Almost 400 Vietnamese and Russian businesses attended the Vietnam-Russia economic forum entitled, “Strategic partnership – comprehensive cooperation” in Moscow , Russia , on Sept. 15.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation George Petrov said that Russia and Vietnam have combined actions based on the fine traditional friendship, mutual trust and understanding, active political dialogue and cooperation for mutual interest.

Two-way trade value recorded a year-on-year increase of 8.2 percent to more than 1.5 billion USD in 2009 despite the global economic crisis and reached 924 million USD in the first half of the year, he said.

Vietnam now has 59 Russian-invested projects totalling more than 576 million USD, excluding those of the oil and gas industry, he added.

However, Petrov noted, the two countries have yet brought into play the full potential of the bilateral relationship.

He suggested the two countries’ businesses increase contacts, exchange market information and further coordinate with each other in gaining access to other regional markets.

He expressed the hope that both countries would sign a number of cooperation agreements to further promote the strategic partnership and comprehensive cooperation during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s upcoming visit to Vietnam .

Petrov also called on Vietnamese businesses to invest in and cooperate with Russia ’s Far East and Sibir regions.

Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Pham Gia Tuc took the occasion to introduce almost 100 Vietnamese businesses participating in the Vietnamese Days in Russia expo and VCCI’s business promotion and connectivity activities.

For his part, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang spoke of the advantages of Vietnam ’s business and investment environment, saying that the nation is an active developing market which is safe and stable and deeply integrating into the global economy.

Vietnam ’s policy considers the foreign-invested businesses as part of Vietnamese business and creates favourable conditions for investors, he confirmed.

He called on overseas Vietnamese business people in Russia to invest directly or through joint ventures in the home country.

A seminar on the establishment of Vietnamese businesses’ representative offices in Russia and a meeting between the two countries’ businesses took place within the framework of the forum./.