Russian Ambassador: Bright prospects for Vietnam-Russian Federation cooperation

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko

The Russian Federation always attaches importance to the cooperative relationship with Vietnam as one of Russia's traditional and priority partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

This is the affirmation of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko in an article titled "Bright prospects of Russian-Vietnamese cooperation" on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the National Day of the Russian Federation (June 12, 1990 - June 12, 2021).

In the article, Ambassador Gennady Bezdetko said that Russia aims to develop friendly relations with all countries on the basis of mutual respect and taking into account each other's interests. One of Russia's traditional and priority partners in the Asia-Pacific region is the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The Ambassador reviewed the traditional friendship between the two countries since the Soviet Union (formerly) established diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1950. The Soviet Union helped the Vietnamese people during the years of fighting for independence and freedom as well as during the period of peace building.

The tradition of friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation was built by previous generations during difficult times and is currently being developed on the basis of bilateral relations. 20 years ago, Russia and Vietnam signed a Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership and since 2012, bilateral relations have been upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Currently, the cooperative relationship between the two countries is developing dynamically in many broad areas. Political dialogue is maintained regularly at the highest and high levels. Phone calls have taken place between President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong; Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Lavrov with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son.

Exchanges continue between the heads of the defense agencies of the two countries. An online conference between the Chairmen of the Russian and Vietnamese subcommittees of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic-Trade and Scientific-Technical Cooperation was held. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, in March this year, the working visit to Vietnam of Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation N. Patrushev was a great success.

In general, the Ambassador emphasized that the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries has been developing continuously. Thanks to the active efforts of the parties in implementing the Free Trade Agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Vietnam signed on May 29, 2015, the trade turnover between the two countries has increased.

According to the 2020 summary, bilateral trade turnover increased by 15% compared to 2019, reaching 5.7 billion USD. The good news is that this positive trend continues this year.

Russia noted with satisfaction the effective activities of the "flagship" in the cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas sector - the VietSovpetro Joint Venture, and the consistent implementation of joint venture projects of the Russian companies AO Zarubezhneft and PJSC Gazprom. Cooperation in the military and military-technical fields is increasingly developing, highly reliable, long-term and fully meets the interests of Russia and Vietnam.

The two countries have made efforts to promote cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Relevant ministries and agencies of Russia and Vietnam have exchanged experience in diagnosing, treating and preventing the disease. Negotiations are underway on the supply and construction of a production facility for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in Vietnam. The Russian side is very grateful to Vietnamese friends who donated several batches of medical protective masks to Russia. For its part, the Russian side has transferred to Vietnam a batch of Sputnik V vaccine, medicines, testing systems and reagents for research.

According to Ambassador Gennady Bezdetko, Russia highly appreciates the activities of the Vietnam-Russia Joint Tropical Science and Technology Research Center. This is one of the most important scientific and technical cooperation projects between the two countries. On its basis, over the past 30 years, many unique studies have been conducted in the fields of environmental safety, biology and chemistry, as well as epidemiology and medicine in tropical conditions.

Education and training remain a traditional area of ​​bilateral cooperation. In the 2020-2021 academic year, the Russian Government has granted 965 places to Vietnamese students to study at leading Russian universities.

In the coming academic year, 1,000 Vietnamese students will study in Russia. Despite the reduction in cultural exchange activities due to the pandemic, in 2020, the two countries still held the Russian Film Week in Hanoi and the Vietnamese Film Week in Moscow.

Within the framework of the recent visit to Vietnam of Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation N. Patrushev, a solemn ceremony to inaugurate the Alexander Pushkin monument in the capital Hanoi was held.

Ambassador Gennady Bezdetko said that when the situation returns to normal after the pandemic, Russia and Vietnam can quickly restore the number of tourists between the two countries. Before the pandemic, Vietnam was one of the most popular destinations for Russian tourists. In 2019, 680,000 Russian citizens traveled to Vietnam. In addition, the interest of Vietnamese people in tourist routes to Russia is increasing.

One of the important directions of cooperation between the two countries is coordination in the international arena. The two countries have similar positions on many international and regional issues, supporting the formation of a multipolar, equitable world order based on the norms of international law, respecting sovereignty and taking into account the interests of all parties.

Russia and Vietnam cooperate effectively at the United Nations Security Council. Vietnam was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term. The Russian Federation attaches great importance to the development of the Russia-ASEAN dialogue partnership.

"Thus, the multifaceted cooperation between Russia and Vietnam, which benefits both countries, is constantly developing, in accordance with the agreements at the highest and high levels, in the spirit of comprehensive strategic partnership. The foundation of this relationship is a solid tradition of friendship and solidarity, independent of temporary political situations, and deep mutual understanding. This allows the two countries to look to the future with optimism. Before the two countries and two peoples are important tasks to promote bilateral relations both in established areas as well as new prospects, for the stable development and prosperity of Russia and Vietnam, ensuring peace and stability in the region and in the world," Ambassador Gennady Bezdetko affirmed.

According to VNA