Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s article was published by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s “The world and Vietnam” print edition.
The Minister noted “dynamic development of economic ties both in traditional areas (power engineering, industrial production, transport and agriculture) and new, advanced sectors (the digital economy, e-government, smart city technology and ICT security).”
“Trade is growing. Symbolically, Vietnam became the first country with which the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union signed a free trade agreement in May 2015. The implementation of its provisions and a package of bilateral agreements allowed the two countries to increase trade to $6.1 bln by 2018. This is a record figure for the entire post-Soviet period,” Lavrov wrote. “Energy cooperation is a major element in Russian-Vietnamese comprehensive strategic partnership. The Vietsovpetro joint venture has been successfully operating for almost four decades. In cooperation with Petrovietnam Oil and Gas Corporation, the leading Russian companies Gazprom, Rosneft, NOVATEK and Zarubezhneft are carrying out projects on the exploration and production of hydrocarbon resources both in Russia and in Vietnam and diversifying their cooperation on the basis of the latest scientific and technical achievements.”
According to the Minister, “Bilateral cooperation is becoming increasingly innovative and science intensive. The project on building a centre for nuclear science and technology in Vietnam with the assistance of Rosatom corporation is a graphic example of this. The centre will become a leading research institution in Southeast Asia.”