The visit takes place at a time when the two countries are celebrating Vietnam Year in Russia and Russia Year in Vietnam from 2019-2020, marking the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on fundamental principles of the Vietnam - Russia friendship and the 70th founding anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.
The official visit will contribute to consolidating political trust, strengthening strategic engagement and improving the efficiency of the cooperation between the two countries as well as creating a new impetus to foster the Vietnam - Russia traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership in a deep, substantive and effective manner.
The Vietnamese people are happy to share achievements that Russia has accomplished in all aspects over recent years. Russia's socio-political situation is quite stable, with high consensus among the people. Its economy has been recovered and developed, while the separatism trend has been pushed back and the people's lives have been improved.
Russia’s socio-economic development strategy for the 2018-2024 period focuses on human development, raising incomes, improving social security and modernising the Russian economy.
In the context that Russia has faced numerous difficulties due to the Wet’s encirclement and embargo policies, the Russian Government has advocated to promote institutional reform and restructure the economy with numerous measures to support start-ups, improve the investment environment, create budget transparency and reduce the administrative burden on businesses.
Russia’s economy has been gradually recovering, with GDP growth reaching 1.5% in 2017 and 2.3% in 2018, while inflation and public debt were well controlled. The Russian Government has set a strategy for socio-economic development until 2025 with the goal of developing Russia to be among the top five economies in the world. Under the new foreign policy doctrineadopted in 2016, Russia advocated to implement an independent and open foreign policy on the basis of protection of national interests and respect for international law, promoting its role as a balanced factor in solving international problems. Russia also continues to promote a "Look East" policy and pay attention to developing relations with Vietnam while considering Vietnam as its leading partner in Southeast Asia.
We are pleased to see that the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries has been constantly consolidated and strengthened. Vietnamese people always remember and appreciate the enthusiastic support and valuable help of the people of the former Soviet Union, including the Russian people, in the revolutionary cause and the national construction of Vietnam.
The traditional and trusted friendship has been marked by regular high-level visits and exchanges between the two countries, with the most recent visit by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to Russia and the visit by Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev to Vietnam in 2018. The two sides have maintained many coordination and dialogue mechanisms such as the Vietnam-Russia Strategic Dialogue on Diplomacy-Defence-Security. The two countries have agreed on many international and regional issues and have coordinated and supported each other in international forums. Russia has supported Vietnam’s stance on settling East Sea disputes by peaceful means in accordance with the provisions of international law.
The economic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Russia has grown positively and dynamically, particularly after the free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union took effect in October 2016. Two-way trade revenue reached US$4.5 billion in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 28.5%. Russia ranks 24th out of the countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 127 projects and a total registered capital of over US$950 million. Vietnam also has over 20investment projects in Russia with a total investment capital of nearly US$3 billion. Energy is the traditional, strategic and effective field of cooperation, bringing in substantial revenues to both Vietnam and Russia.
Cooperation in the field of education and training has also been increasingly developed. Previously, the Soviet Union trained nearly 40,000 good officials and experts in various fields for Vietnam. Russia now provides scholarships to Vietnamese students every year. The two countries also see growth in cultural and tourism cooperation. Russia continues to be one of the top ten markets witnessing a great growth in the number of visitors to Vietnam. The Vietnamese community in Russia has always taken the lead in charitable activities and made significant contributions to the homeland.
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to Russia is an important milestone in the development of the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries in the new situation. The visit will contribute to effectively implementing many cooperation contents, creating stronger steps in economic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Russia. May PM Phuc’s visit to Russia be a success, thus boosting the Vietnam – Russia comprehensive strategic partnership in a substantive manner.
