Solemn welcome ceremony for Russian Prime Minister Medvedev

This morning, April 6, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung chaired the welcoming ceremony for Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on an official visit to Vietnam in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

The welcoming ceremony for Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took place solemnly at the Presidential Palace.

The two Prime Ministers bowed before the national flags of the two countries.

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Accompanying Prime Minister Medvedev were Deputy Prime Minister - Head of the Government Office of Russia Prikhodko SE, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government - Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in the Far East Trutnhev YP, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Vietnam Vnukov KV, Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Manturov DV, Minister of Energy of Russia Novak AV and many other senior officials of the Russian Government.

Before the official welcoming ceremony, Prime Minister Medvedev laid a wreath at the Monument to Heroes and Martyrs, laid a wreath and visited President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum.

Prime Minister Medvedev visited the Bac Son Martyrs' Monument and Uncle Ho's Mausoleum.

Afterwards, in a warm and friendly atmosphere, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Russian Prime Minister Medvedev held talks.

This afternoon, after the talks, the two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperation documents and met briefly with the press. In the afternoon of the same day, he will meet with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Truong Tan Sang, meet with National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and witness the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation for the 2015-2017 period between the United Russia Party and the Communist Party of Vietnam.

On April 7, Prime Minister Medvedev will meet with leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and hold a dialogue with Vietnamese and Russian businesses.

The visit is expected to elevate the strategic partnership between the two countries to a new level.

Discussing the content of the visit, Prime Minister Medvedev said that the Russian Government has many ideas and plans to promote the Strategic Partnership with Vietnam to a new level. That is the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union countries; finding new and promising forms of cooperation such as joint processing of oil and gas, not just exploitation, and applying different incentive mechanisms to promote cooperation development.

The two Prime Ministers entered the talks, promising to mention many new ideas to promote comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

The Russian Prime Minister said he hoped his visit to Vietnam would yield practical results in completing the FTA negotiations, leading to an official signing in the first half of this year. He also said he would raise the issue of Russia and Vietnam switching to payment in the two countries' national currencies during the talks.

According to NLDO/Infonet