Vietnamese, Russian leaders call for stronger trade cooperation

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin agreed on the need to bring about stronger breakthroughs in trade cooperation, noting that the two economies have significant potential and complementary strengths, during their meeting in Moscow on September 8.

At the meeting, which took place as part of General Secretary and President Lam’s state visit to Russia, PM Mishustin noted his belief that the visit would create a turning point in bilateral cooperation in the time ahead.

General Secretary and President Lam thanked Russian leaders, Government and people for their warm reception and conveyed PM Le Minh Hung’s invitation to PM Mishustin to visit Vietnam at a convenient time.

The top Vietnamese leader appreciated the role of the two Governments in concretising and implementing agreements and orientations reached by the countries’ high-ranking leaders, and called on the Governments to continue close coordination and make effective use of existing mechanisms, particularly the Vietnam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee on Economic-Trade and Scientific-Technological Cooperation.

The two sides expressed delight at the progress made in bilateral relations across various areas of cooperation, including trade, investment, science and technology, education and training, people-to-people exchanges, and tourism cooperation. Notably, difficulties and obstacles previously raised by the leaders of the two sides have been addressed and improvements have been made in recent times.

They also agreed to study the establishment of new cooperation mechanisms and specialised working groups in various fields, and pledged to encourage businesses from both countries to expand their operations in each other’s markets, and promote business-to-business connectivity.

General Secretary and President Lam called for stronger two-way investment towards a more balanced approach, saying following the success of TH Group, Vietnam encourages its businesses to invest in agriculture in Russia and Russian businesses to invest in industry in Vietnam.

Emphasising the importance of strengthening transport and logistics connectivity to expanding bilateral trade, PM Mishustin said the two sides should study solutions to improve the efficiency of maritime, rail and multimodal transport, thereby establishing stable supply chains and facilitating the exchange of goods between the two countries.

General Secretary and President Lam highlighted the need for the two sides to establish new strategic connectivity through cooperation in transport, particularly railways, maritime transport and aviation. To enhance the effectiveness of economic and trade cooperation, he proposed the Russian Government direct relevant ministries and agencies to continue reviewing and resolving difficulties and obstacles in economic, trade and investment ties; adopt appropriate solutions to issues related to tariffs, quotas, transport, logistics and market access; and increase Vietnam’s commercial presence in Russia.

Noting that Vietnam was the first country in the world to sign a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), of which Russia is a member, the top Vietnamese leader also called on Russia to help encourage other EAEU member states to open their markets, remove trade barriers and eliminate the threshold-based trade remedy mechanism applied to Vietnamese goods.

The two leaders spoke highly of the effectiveness of their oil and gas cooperation projects, considering them vivid examples of the efficiency of Vietnam-Russia cooperation. The Russia side expressed its desire to continue developing energy cooperation with Vietnam, not only in traditional areas but also in new fields in line with the needs and development orientations of both countries.

General Secretary and President Lam and PM Mishustin shared the view that science and technology holds great potential to become a new driving force for bilateral relations, stressing the need to further elevate cooperation in this field. They also reached a consensus on the importance of studying the expansion of collaboration into areas such as new energy and biomedical technology, among others.

The Vietnamese leader proposed making the most of Russia’s strengths in basic science, engineering and technology in conjunction with Vietnam’s needs for rapid and sustainable development. He also asked the Russian side to pay attention to supporting Vietnam in training high-quality human resources in fields where Russia has strengths and Vietnam has demand.

The two sides agreed to promote cooperation in culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, thereby helping younger generations gain a deeper understanding of the history and traditions of the bilateral relations.

The Russian PM expressed his belief that General Secretary and President Lam’s state visit to Russia and his talks with President Vladimir Putin will provide strong new impetus and identify important strategic orientations for bilateral relations in the new period. He affirmed that the Russian Government will closely coordinate with its Vietnamese counterpart to concretise and effectively implement agreements reached at the highest level, and translate political orientations into specific programmes, projects and tangible cooperation outcomes./.