Repositioning and elevating Vietnam-Russia cooperation in the new era.
Upon landing at Vnukovo 2 airport in Moscow at the start of their official visit to the Russian Federation, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the high-level Vietnamese delegation were warmly welcomed with heartfelt respect.
Upon landing at Vnukovo 2 airport in Moscow at the start of their official visit to the Russian Federation, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the high-level Vietnamese delegation were warmly welcomed with heartfelt hospitality and the radiant sunshine of late winter, despite the still cold weather in the capital of the "Land of the White Birch" and the lingering ice in many places.
Vietnam and the Russian Federation share a long-standing, loyal, and enduring tradition of friendship and cooperation, proven over time. As Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assessed during his talks and meetings with Russian leaders: Even though the world today is experiencing complex and unpredictable changes that negatively impact all countries, Vietnam remains a loyal and trustworthy friend of the Russian Federation. Especially in these times, the two countries must "unite to create strength, cooperate for mutual benefit, and engage in dialogue to strengthen trust," and "listen with sincerity, share with the heart, and act with concrete results" to overcome all difficulties and challenges.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits the Russian Atomic Energy Museum.
At the meetings, senior leaders of the Russian Federation, representatives of political parties in the Russian Parliament, representatives of leading Russian corporations and businesses, and especially friends, all affirmed their strong support for promoting the comprehensive strategic partnership, which benefits the people of both countries and contributes to peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world. During the talks between the leaders of the Russian and Vietnamese governments, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin expressed his high regard for the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, considering Vietnam a leading important partner in the Asia-Pacific region and always wishing to further enhance the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation in all fields. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin of the Russian Federation emphasized that cooperation in energy and oil and gas is a traditional, cornerstone, and symbolic area of effective cooperation between the two countries; affirming that this cooperation has a century-long vision and is a strategic issue for both countries. Both sides agreed to promptly study and expand cooperation in the fields of new energy, clean energy, and renewable energy, contributing to green transition and sustainable development. In particular, the two leaders strongly affirmed that the signing of the Agreement between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in building a nuclear power plant in Vietnam is an important step in bilateral cooperation in the field of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and expressed confidence that this will be a new symbolic project for the friendship between Vietnam and the Russian Federation.
Under the decisive leadership of the Prime Minister, during the visit, leaders of Vietnamese ministries, sectors, and localities proactively worked with their partners, opening up many new areas of cooperation, including railway connectivity, subway development, agriculture, and scientific research. The Russian side's determination to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam was further strongly affirmed at the Vietnam-Russia Business Forum, attended by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernychenko. Russian government leaders affirmed that Russia has strengths and is ready to cooperate and invest with Vietnam in the fields of energy (oil and gas, coal), agricultural products (meat, wheat, fertilizers), transportation (aviation, sea, rail), tourism, and human resource training; effectively utilizing the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Russia is a member.
He argued that the two countries need to open up new transportation routes; in particular, Russia is ready to expand cooperation in the fields of new energy, clean energy, and renewable energy, contributing to green transition and sustainable development, as evidenced by the recent signing of an agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Vietnam.
For his part, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that Vietnam is prioritizing energy development, including the development of nuclear energy as a clean energy source with a 100-year vision; developing a nuclear energy ecosystem; and hoping that Russia will invest in a nuclear energy ecosystem in Vietnam. Regarding the oil and gas sector, the Prime Minister hoped that both sides would continue to exploit their strengths in exploration, extraction, and processing; and exploit clean energy, including the seven offshore energy sources. For the economy to achieve double-digit growth, the energy sector must also grow at a double-digit rate; therefore, the potential for cooperation between Vietnam and Russia in this field is enormous.
The Prime Minister expressed his desire for businesses of both countries to strengthen exchanges, seek investment cooperation opportunities, and improve the connection between the two economies and business communities. He expressed confidence that, building on the excellent political and diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Russian Federation, the business communities of both countries will have many concrete investment cooperation projects in the future, making the best use of each side's "unique potential, outstanding opportunities, and competitive advantages," contributing to elevating bilateral relations to a new, more practical and effective level. At the forum, both sides agreed on the need to find effective payment methods to overcome the current situation, thereby further promoting trade exchanges between the two countries.
During the visit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh particularly promoted cooperation in railway transport between Vietnam and Russia, as well as cooperation in developing urban railway lines. The Prime Minister personally inspected the Moscow Metro system control center, gaining further insights to outline directions for cooperation in this field. We witnessed the decisive working style of the head of government when meeting with the leaders of the Russian Railways Joint Stock Company, requesting the company to closely coordinate with the Vietnam Railways Corporation to promote railway cooperation in the spirit of the high-level leaders of the two countries "heating up" the situation; the two railway enterprises must be "burning" with this issue. The requirement for the two enterprises in the near future is to solve practical problems regarding transportation, payment methods, etc. With a style of "saying and doing," the Prime Minister proposed that the two sides immediately establish a working group to promote strong and substantive cooperation.
The leaders of the Russian Railways Company also wholeheartedly agreed with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's suggestion to strongly promote the restoration of intermodal railway transport to Russia, thereby diversifying transport methods; affirming that Russia possesses one of the largest railway systems in the world as well as almost all the necessary skills. The company is ready and willing to share its knowledge with excellent partners from Vietnam.
Russian media also extensively covered Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to the Russian Federation. News agencies such asTASS, Ria Novosti... continuously reported on the activities of the Vietnamese Prime Minister; highly appreciated and highlighted the special significance of the visit, especially emphasizing that the signing of the cooperation agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Vietnam is a strategic direction. In an interview with the specialized press team accompanying the delegation, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernychenko stated that the Russian side was pleased to see that the priority development areas outlined at the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam align with the main points of the cooperation plan between Vietnam and the Russian Federation recently signed by the two Prime Ministers. This shows that Russia can support Vietnam and this mutually beneficial cooperation aims to achieve the goals that the two countries' economies are striving for. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed confidence that with Russia's support, mainly in the energy and peaceful nuclear energy sectors, the sustainable supply of oil, gas, coal, raw materials, and agricultural products, independent of the international market, will benefit Vietnam.
Despite lasting only three days, the official visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the high-level Vietnamese delegation to the Russian Federation was a resounding success, demonstrating substantive and effective results. It opened a new chapter with new strategic cooperation directions, contributing to redefining and elevating the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the Russian Federation to a new level, building upon the long-standing and strong political foundation.