Vietnam and the Russian province of Sverdlovsk should step up cooperation in the mining, metallurgy and machinery manufacturing industries.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and Sverdlovsk’s Governor A.S Misharin reached consensus on the issue during their meeting in Hanoi on April 6.

Hai said the Russian people always are close friends of the Vietnamese people, noting that the traditional friendship between the two nations was built and tested in the past, is developing at present and will be lasting forever in the future.

The Russian Federation and Sverdlovsk , in particular, have helped train tens of thousands of Vietnamese officials, he said, adding the Russian Federation is assisting Vietnam in training the workforce for its first nuclear power plant.

Misharin said Sverdlovsk has demands for Vietnam ’s processed agricultural products, and the province can share experience and provide Vietnam with plant protection techniques and cattle feed production technologies.

Being home to 32 universities and 100 modern research centres, Sverdlovsk is willing to receive Vietnamese students and postgraduates for further study, he said.

Misharin took this occasion to invite Deputy PM Hai and Vietnamese firms to participate in a machinery manufacturing equipment fair scheduled to be held in Sverdlovsk in July 2011, which he said, will offer Vietnamese companies a lot of cooperation opportunities./.