President Putin's article on Russia-Vietnam relations

- During his third visit to Vietnam (from November 12), President V. Putin wrote an article about the relationship between Russia and Vietnam.

Russian President V. Putin

The full text of the article is as follows:

"On the eve of my third visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, I would like to take the opportunity to directly communicate with the Vietnamese public to share some thoughts on the future development of relations between our two countries.

The friendship between Russia and Vietnam has firmly overcome the challenges arising from the many tragic events of the 20th century as well as the great changes in the world and in our two countries. But one thing remains unchanged – the relationship of mutual respect, the tradition of trust and mutual assistance. The ability to appreciate the selfless and unselfish help of partners who never betray.

In this regard, I would like to quote the famous words of President Ho Chi Minh: “When drinking water, remember its source”. I consider these words as a spiritual entrustment to the present and future generations of citizens of our two countries. We must remember our common history and what binds us together. That is the guarantee of continuity and sustainability for a relationship towards the future.

We are sincerely pleased with the great achievements that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has made on the path of carrying out important economic and social reforms. Russia is also implementing large-scale national tasks. We consider active participation in the integration process - both at the global and regional levels - a powerful source of development. We attach special importance to cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, where Vietnam is emerging as one of the leading centers of growth.

Our two countries are connected by largely similar views on issues on the world agenda. Together we are seeking ways to deal with new risks and challenges. We defend the rule of law in international affairs, the unique and irreplaceable nature of political and diplomatic instruments in resolving disputes, and the right of any country to choose its own path of development.

All of these are ensuring that the Russia-Vietnam strategic partnership, which we have every reason to call a comprehensive strategic partnership, is developing rapidly. Last year, bilateral trade turnover increased by 20% and reached 3.66 billion USD. The general plan is to bring this figure to 7 billion USD by 2015. And then, by 2020, it will be 10 billion USD.

The conclusion of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the member states of the Customs Union and Vietnam could directly contribute to the resolution of this task, which is consistent with the logic of political and economic integration in the Eurasian and Asia-Pacific regions. Negotiations on the establishment of a free trade area are underway and we are confident that they will be successfully completed.

The key role in the development of cooperation between Russia and Vietnam in industry and investment has always belonged to the energy and oil and gas sector. Here, our leading flag is the Vietnam-Russia Joint Venture Vietsovpetro, which has accumulated unique experience in technology in exploitation activities in the continental shelf area. The volume of exploitation of the Joint Venture in recent years has reached 206 million tons of oil, with total profits reaching tens of billions of USD.

Gazprom and Rosneft are increasing their presence in Vietnam. The projects the two corporations are implementing involve oil and gas exploitation, modernizing petrochemical facilities, and supplying liquefied natural gas from Russia’s Far East to Vietnam.

I would like to emphasize that cooperation in the oil and gas sector is reciprocal. Currently, the joint venture Rusvietpetro is operating well in the Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous District of the Russian Federation. The activities of another joint venture, Gazpromviet, are also promising, and this company is currently developing oil and gas in the Orenburg region and other regions of Russia.

Our cooperation in the energy sector is not limited to oil and gas exploitation. Russia is helping to build a completely new industry for the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – the nuclear industry. Rosatom will build Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan province. According to the schedule, the plant’s two power units are expected to be launched in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The two sides are also discussing a plan to cooperate in building a Center for Nuclear Science and Technology.

Another area of ​​great potential is cooperation in the peaceful use of outer space and the use of the Russian GLONASS satellite system, cooperation in the development of rail and air transport, machine building, mining industry, banking and finance, and healthcare. All these initiatives and plans are aimed at expanding industrial, technological and investment cooperation.

The field of military-technical cooperation has also achieved qualitatively new results. We are not only talking about export shipments – currently in Vietnam, the licensed production of advanced military equipment models with the participation of Russian companies is being organized.

We have always been proud of our tradition of cooperation in the humanities – in culture, science and education. In this respect, Vietnam is the country with the largest number of staff (excluding the CIS countries) this year for training staff at Russian universities. In total, there are currently nearly 5,000 Vietnamese citizens studying in Russia, of which nearly 2,000 are students studying through state channels.

We cannot fail to mention the cooperation activities of scientists from our two countries. Among them are the activities of the Vietnam-Russia Tropical Science and Technology Center for many years. The results of the research and survey projects in the field of basic and applied science of the Center are highly appreciated by experts around the world.

My visit coincides with the Russian Cultural Days currently taking place in Vietnam. I am very pleased to see that our Vietnamese friends are sincerely interested in the arts of our country. For their part, the Russian people are also looking forward to welcoming Vietnamese cultural guests. I am confident that the Hanoi Days in Moscow, which will open at the end of November this year, will be a great success. Such cultural exchanges have proven to be very necessary. We intend to continue these cultural exchanges.

The desire to learn more directly about the history and rich culture of the Vietnamese people is demonstrated by the number of Russian tourists coming to Vietnam. Last year, this number doubled, and in the first 9 months of this year, it increased by another 66%, surpassing the 200 thousand mark. Based on the very well-developed tourism infrastructure in Vietnam, I am sure that this trend will continue.

In general, it is difficult to find any direction in which Russia and Vietnam do not develop effective cooperation. I believe that the upcoming top-level talks in Hanoi will have good results, as is tradition, and will create a new strong impetus for the strategic partnership between our two states and peoples."/

According to VOV