President Tran Dai Quang meets with Governor of Saint Petersburg

Vietnam is a key and very important partner, the relationship between Saint Petersburg and Vietnamese localities is built on a solid foundation.

During his official visit to the Russian Federation, on the afternoon of July 1 (local time), President Tran Dai Quang met with Governor of Saint Petersburg, Mr. Georgy Pontavchenko at the Smolny Palace.

Governor Pontavchenko warmly welcomed the President and the Vietnamese High-Level Delegation to visit Saint Petersburg.

The Governor emphasized that Vietnam is the city's main and very important partner. Mr. Pontavchenko said that the relationship between Saint Petersburg and Vietnamese localities is built on a solid foundation. Currently, the city has cooperative relations with Ho Chi Minh City and Khanh Hoa province of Vietnam.

President Tran Dai Quang visits Lenin's memorial site at Smolny Palace. (Photo: Nhan Sang - VNA)

Governor Pontavchenko announced that in December 2015, he led a high-ranking delegation and many leading businesses of Saint Petersburg to visit and work in Ho Chi Minh City. The two sides reached many agreements on trade and tourism.

The Governor emphasized that education and training is an important aspect in the relationship between Saint Petersburg and Vietnam.

The Governor said that Saint Petersburg is a famous center for Vietnamese language training, starting to open training courses since 1931. Along with that, thousands of Vietnamese officials have been trained in Saint Petersburg and currently there are over 300 Vietnamese students studying in the city.

Saint Petersburg universities have signed about 25 cooperation agreements with Vietnamese universities.

Saint Petersburg is proud to be the city with the first Ho Chi Minh Institute outside of Vietnam.

The Governor said that economic and trade relations between Saint Petersburg and Vietnam have achieved many good results. In the first quarter of 2017, bilateral trade turnover between Saint Petersburg and Vietnam reached 100 million USD.

Governor Georgy Pontavchenko believes that the Vietnam - Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement, which has come into effect, will help boost trade turnover between Saint Petersburg and Vietnam.

According to Mr. Pontavchenko, besides Saint Petersburg enterprises operating effectively in Vietnam, there are currently many enterprises of the city interested in cooperation and investment opportunities in Vietnam, especially in the city's strong fields such as: Machine manufacturing, electrical equipment production, port infrastructure development, clean water treatment.

The Governor of Saint Petersburg believes that the official visit to the Russian Federation by President Tran Dai Quang will create important momentum to promote economic, trade and investment relations between Vietnam and the Russian Federation, including Saint Petersburg.

Mr. Pontavchenko announced that Saint Petersburg is planning to open the first photo exhibition about President Ho Chi Minh at the Hermitage National Heritage Museum in May 2019. And this is one of the highlights of the activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on the Fundamental Principles of Friendly Relations, which laid the foundation for the relationship between the two countries.

President Tran Dai Quang thanked Governor Georgy Pontavchenko and the people of Saint Petersburg for the warm and respectful welcome given to the President and his delegation.

The President expressed his delight at visiting Saint Petersburg - the place chosen by VI Lenin as the place to lead the great October Revolution 100 years ago, and witnessing the city's strong development achievements, worthy of being a major economic, cultural, tourism and educational center of Russia.

President Tran Dai Quang emphasized that the Vietnamese people always pay close attention to and sincerely congratulate the Russian people on the socio-economic development achievements they have made in recent years.

Under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, Russia is becoming increasingly stronger, thereby consolidating and promoting Russia's role and position in the international arena.

In the general development of the whole vast country of Russia, there is an important contribution of Saint Petersburg, the center of dynamic economic development of the Russian Federation.

Expressing his delight at the good development of the multifaceted bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Russia, the President highly appreciated the localities of the two countries for proactively strengthening and consolidating the relationship.

Regular delegation exchanges between Vietnamese provinces and cities and Russian entities have contributed significantly to further promoting economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

The President said that effective cooperation between localities will be a factor promoting cooperation between Vietnam and Russia.

Currently, bilateral trade turnover is continuously increasing. In the first 4 months of 2017, it reached 1.1 billion USD. Along with that, cooperation in traditional fields such as: Oil and gas, energy, education, culture, etc. is being strengthened.

The two sides are promoting the expansion of cooperation into new areas such as automobile manufacturing, the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, railways, infrastructure construction, etc.

President Tran Dai Quang welcomed the cooperation between Saint Petersburg and provinces and cities of Vietnam.

The President highly appreciated Governor Georgy Pontavchenko and many leading businesses of Saint Petersburg who visited and worked in major cities of Vietnam in late 2015.

The President affirmed that the Vietnamese State will continue to create all favorable conditions for localities of the two countries to cooperate directly, practically and effectively.

President Tran Dai Quang believes that with the efforts of Governor Georgy Pontavchenko and leaders of Vietnamese localities, the cooperation between Saint Petersburg City and Vietnamese localities will become increasingly in-depth, effective and dynamic, meeting the needs and interests of both sides.

The President hopes that Vietnamese and Russian localities will continue to support and complement each other in the process of developing cooperative relations.

Next, President Tran Dai Quang visited the VI Lenin Memorial Site at the Smolny Palace, visited the Navy exhibition and the Ekaterina Palace.

This evening, local time, or tonight Hanoi time, President Tran Dai Quang and his wife, along with the high-ranking delegation of our country, left Saint Petersburg City to return home, successfully concluding the official visit to Russia from June 28 to July 1, 2017 at the invitation of President of the Russian Federation V. Putin./.

According to VOV