HCMC – Vietnam and Russia should remove obstacles and create favorable conditions for cooperation to increase bilateral trade to US$10 billion, stated Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
At a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Konstantin Vnukov on November 11 after an online conference of the Vietnam-Russia Inter-Governmental Committee, PM Phuc hailed the results of the conference, saying it was a good opportunity for the Governments, ministries and agencies of the two sides to exchange views and seek ways to enhance their cooperation in the future.
He spoke highly of the Russian ambassador’s positive contributions to strengthening the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership, the local media reported.
The prime minister stressed that Vietnam and Russia have a high level of political trust and regular exchanges of delegations, particularly at high levels, adding that the economic cooperation between the two nations has grown strongly over the last few years, with two-way trade increasing from US$2.5 billion in 2014 to US$4.5 billion in 2019.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, trade between the two sides picked up 10% in the January-September period of this year.
Meanwhile, Vnukov said Russia always treasures its relationship with Vietnam.
Due to the pandemic, the two countries failed to organize many events, including Russian president Putin’s visit to Vietnam, the ambassador noted.
He said that Russia completely supports Vietnam for the role of ASEAN Chair this year, saying ASEAN is one of Russia’s top priorities for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and Vietnam is the leading ASEAN country in economic and trade cooperation with Russia.
Vietnam is among the countries that succeeded in combating Covid-19, Vnukov noted, adding that Russia wants to assist Vietnam in the fight against the pandemic, particularly in terms of the vaccine, as the pandemic situation remains complicated.
PM Phuc reiterated that as the ASEAN Chair in 2020, Vietnam will continue supporting and boosting the strategic partnership between ASEAN and Russia and expected Russia to continue supporting Vietnam to fulfil its missions.
