Overcoming the challenges of time, including ups and downs throughout history, the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership continues to grow, becoming a valuable asset and pride of both nations.
For more than seven decades, the bilateral relationship has been cultivated by generations of the two countries’ leaders and people on the firm foundation of the time-honoured friendship, deep trust and mutual respect.
With constant efforts, the Vietnam-Russia cooperative relationship has recorded many achievements in the past. The frequent exchange between the two countries’ high-level leaders has strongly driven Vietnam and Russia to advance simultaneously on the path of cooperation.
Despite the negative impacts of COVID-19, bilateral trade reached 4.85 billion USD in 2020, up 9% from 2019. As of April 2021, Russia was the 25th largest foreign investor in Vietnam with 944 million USD spread over 144 different projects. Besides economic and trade cooperation, bilateral cooperation is also growing in other areas such as culture, tourism, education and training, and science and technology.
The intimate relationship between Vietnam and Russia is clearly demonstrated during the difficult period of COVID-19, which has brought the two nations’ governments and their people closer together. At the start of the pandemic, shipments of medical masks and equipment were sent to Russia, bringing with them the solidarity and sharing culture of Vietnam. For its part, Russia also donated COVID-19 vaccines and treatment drugs to Vietnam.
Noting that the battle against COVID-19 is one of the priorities of cooperation between the two countries, Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko affirmed that Russia is willing to further deepen the cooperative relationship with Vietnam, specifically in the field of healthcare, on the basis of the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership.
The mention of the Russian country and its people always evoke strong emotions throughout many generations of Vietnamese people, especially those who used to study and live in the land of the birch trees.
Russian literature with names such as Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy and Dostoevsky have become a great monument in the hearts of Russia-loving Vietnamese people. Many writers and translators of both countries have made significant contributions to build this literary bridge. First, we remember Hoang Thuy Toan, who devoted his entire life to translating Russian proses and poems into Vietnamese. Notably, Vu The Khoi and other interpreters, who translated Nguyen Du’s Tale of Kieu into Russian, held a strong desire that Russian people will have a better understanding about Vietnam and its people through this masterpiece. With sincere and incessant efforts, translators and writers have helped the two nations’ people to become more closely connected through literature.
Ambassador Gennady Bezdetko emphasised that the foundation of Vietnam-Russia cooperation is a time-honoured friendship and solidarity as well as having profound mutual understanding. Continuing the glorious journey over the past seven decades, the Vietnam-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership will continue to grow strongly, commensurate to the long-standing friendship between the two nations.
