General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong answers questions from TASS News Agency

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. (Photo: Phuong Hoa/VNA)

At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will pay an official visit to the Russian Federation from September 5 to 8, 2018.

Before the visit, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong gave an interview to TASS News Agency (Russian Federation), with the following content:

-TASS News Agency: Could you please tell us what you expect from the upcoming official-friendly visit to the Russian Federation and what issues you want to discuss with President V. Putin and the leaders of the Russian Federation?

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong:At the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin, I and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation will pay an official visit to the Russian Federation in the near future. The visit takes place in the context of the good development of the relationship between the two countries; especially before the major events commemorating the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on the basic principles of the Vietnam-Russian Federation friendship in 2019 and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Russian Federation diplomatic relations in 2020.

My official visit to the Russian Federation this time aims to further deepen the Vietnam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, strengthen strategic ties and promote cooperation in all fields.

Together with President V. Putin and the leaders of the Russian Federation, I will have a comprehensive exchange on bilateral relations; discuss major directions and measures to promote relations in all fields; and exchange views on international and regional issues of mutual concern.

I believe that the visit will create new momentum for the Vietnam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to continue to develop, further improving the quality and effectiveness of bilateral cooperation, for the benefit of the two peoples and for the benefit of peace, stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region.

-TASS News Agency: Could you please share your assessment of the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the Russian Federation in recent times?

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong:The good traditional friendship between Vietnam and the Russian Federation has a long history, has been tested by time, and has been cultivated by many generations of leaders and people of the two countries. This is a priceless common asset of the two peoples, which needs to be preserved and promoted.

The Russian Federation is a very important traditional partner of Vietnam. Throughout the nearly 70 years of history of relations, the people of our two countries have stood side by side, supported and helped each other. I do not see any problem that would hinder the continued development and deepening of relations between the two countries.

With the tradition of "When drinking water, remember its source," the Vietnamese people will never forget the great, wholehearted and effective help, both spiritually and materially, that the people of the former Soviet Union, including the Russian Federation, have given to the Vietnamese people in the struggle for national independence and in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland today.

Perhaps there are few countries in the world like Vietnam that have many generations of Vietnamese people, including leaders from the central to local levels, trained and studied in the Russian Federation. Currently, the Russian Federation is also one of the few countries with the largest number of Vietnamese people living and studying. Vietnam is increasingly attracting and becoming an attractive tourist destination for Russian tourists. These are important factors contributing to strengthening the friendly relationship and mutual understanding between the people of the two countries.

Vietnam always attaches importance to and prioritizes consolidating and strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership with the Russian Federation. Since the two countries upgraded their relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2012, political relations have become increasingly trustworthy; delegation exchanges at all levels, especially high-level delegations, take place regularly through all channels of parties, governments, parliaments, and localities. The two sides maintain many effective and appropriate exchange mechanisms; economic-trade, investment, security-defense cooperation has been strengthened. Vietnam is the first country to sign a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union.

However, bilateral economic and trade cooperation remains modest. After the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement took effect in October 2016, trade turnover grew by about 30% in the past two years, reaching about 3.5 billion USD in 2017, which is still very low, not commensurate with the good political relations, great potential and desires of both sides. We hope that this field will develop more strongly and soon become a true pillar of the bilateral relationship in the coming time. It can be said that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and the Russian Federation is developing substantially, increasingly deepening in a sustainable direction.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. (Source: VNA)

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong:I completely agree with such a comment. A typical and symbolic example of cooperation in the energy sector is the Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant, a project built by the Soviet Union to help Vietnam, bringing high economic efficiency, ensuring energy security for Vietnam in the development process. In addition, Vietnam-Russia joint ventures in the oil and gas sector such as Vietsovpetro, Rusvietpetro, Gazpromviet, Vietgazprom... are symbols of cooperation between the two countries in the new era, bringing very positive economic efficiency to both Vietnam and the Russian Federation.

There is still a lot of room for cooperation between the two countries in this field. Vietnam is in the process of industrialization and modernization of the country, and the demand for investment, construction and development of infrastructure, energy and electricity is very large. The Party and State of Vietnam always welcome and create the most favorable conditions for enterprises of the Russian Federation to participate in projects to modernize power plants previously built by the Soviet Union, as well as new energy projects. This comes from the long-term experience of cooperation with the Russian Federation, because the Russian Federation has high technical and technological level and is a very reliable partner of Vietnam.

Cooperation in the oil and gas sector has developed very dynamically, and is one of the areas of long-term strategic cooperation in both politics and economics. The oil and gas industry has become a key economic sector of Vietnam. I highly appreciate the effectiveness of the cooperation of Russian companies such as Gazprom, Zarubezneft, Rosneft with Vietnam in recent times. Vietnam encourages, supports and is ready to create the best conditions for Russian enterprises to continue to increase investment and operations in Vietnam.

Cooperation in this field, we cannot fail to mention an important direction, which is cooperation in using atomic energy for peaceful purposes. The former Soviet Union and the present-day Russian Federation have been training many leading scientists and experts in this field for Vietnam. The two countries have agreed to build a Nuclear Science and Technology Center in Vietnam. This is a very important project for both countries with the aim of promoting research, building and developing national nuclear science and technology potential, training highly qualified staff, expanding and promoting the application of atomic energy in the socio-economic and scientific-technological fields.

TASS News Agency: Could you please assess the current situation and prospects of defense-security and military-technical cooperation between Vietnam and the Russian Federation?

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong:Defense and security cooperation between the two countries, including military technical cooperation, is a key and traditional area of ​​cooperation. Over the past time, this area of ​​cooperation has been continuously expanded and strengthened, demonstrating high trust between the two countries and in line with the Vietnam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

I highly appreciate the very effective and dynamic cooperation between the two countries, especially in areas of cooperation such as personnel training, UN peacekeeping, navy, military medicine, military technology, defense industry, etc. In the coming time, defense-security cooperation between the two countries will continue to play an important role in the overall comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries./.

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