Russia’s State Duma Chairman starts official visit to Vietnam

Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin (Photo: Tass)

 Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin arrived in Hanoi on December 23 to begin his two-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

Vietnam and Russia set up diplomatic ties on January 30, 1950 and since then, the two countries’ relations have been developing strongly with achievements recorded in all fields.

On March 1, 2001, Vietnam and Russia signed a joint statement on strategic partnership. Later on July 27, 2012, both sides issued a joint statement on further strengthening bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.

Trade between the two countries rose from 2.2 billion USD in 2015 to 2.7 billion USD in 2016 and 3.55 billion USD in 2017.

Russia now ranks 23rd among countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 116 projects worth a total of 990 billion USD, mostly in oil and gas, manufacturing, mining, transportation, telecommunications, and aquaculture.

Vietnam currently invests in 22 projects worth nearly 3 billion USD in Russia, predominantly in Rusvietpetro and Gazpromviet oil and gas ventures, Hanoi – Moscow cultural-trade centre, TH True Milk’s milch farming and agriculture, among others.

Russia remains among the top 10 sources of tourist arrivals in Vietnam. The number of Russian tourists soared from 176,000 in 2012 to 570,000 in 2017.

VNA