Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on October 15 received Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov who is on a visit to Vietnam to co-host the 16th session of an intergovernmental committee.

PM Dung praised the 16th session of the Vietnam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee for Economic, Commercial, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, which aims to prepare for the forthcoming visit to Vietnam by Russian President Vladimir Putin and reach a unanimity on documents to be signed during the visit.

The government leader asked both sides to review cooperation areas over the year and discuss stronger measures to achieve US$4 billion in this year’s two-way trade.

The two sides need to accelerate the implementation of their key projects, especially the construction of a nuclear power plant in the central province of Ninh Thuan, he added.

Dung spoke highly of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and called the Russian government to facilitate the negotiation process for an early conclusion as a contribution to enhancing economic, trade and investment cooperation among the signatories.

He said he hopes Russia will continue supporting the Vietnamese community who act as a bridge to bring Vietnam and Russia closer together.

Deputy PM Igor Shuvalov said that his country treasures its cooperation with Vietnam in a variety of fields--economics, trade, investment, education and training, security-defence, science-technology, and oil and gas.

The Russian government pledges to speed up the FTA negotiations between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and forge favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Russia.

Both sides have made thorough preparations for the upcoming visit to Vietnam by Russian President Vladimir Putin including cooperation documents on trade, investment, education-training and science-technology, he said.

(VOV)