Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung (L) and Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin on May 23 inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Hanoi-Moscow cooperation in the 2019-2021 period

The signing formed part of activities on the sidelines of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to Russia.

During their talks following the signing ceremony, Mayor Sobyanin spoke highly of the development of the sound traditional friendship between Moscow and Hanoi, and briefed his guest on the socio-economic development and projects of the Russian capital city.

He asserted that Moscow is willing to partner as well as share advanced technologies and achievements with Hanoi, including those in the fields of smart city construction; e-government; healthcare; advanced medical technology; education-training; tourism; cultural, art, and cuisine exchanges; and people-to-people exchanges.

Sobyanin also voiced his belief that the MoU will contribute to the development of the two cities’ ties.

For his part, Chung hailed the recent socio-economic results of Moscow, especially urban management and planning, infrastructure investment, as well as the successful organisation of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Lauding the traditional cooperation of the two cities, he expects that in the time to come, the two sides will efficiently launch cooperation programmes to tap the cities’ potential and strengths in a more effective manner.

Accordingly, the two cities will team up to organise trade and tourism investment promotion programmes, and facilitate the “Moscow House in Hanoi” project.

The Hanoi leader expressed his hope that Moscow authorities will pay attention to and create optimal conditions for overseas Vietnamese in the city, as well as support business activities of the Hanoi-Moscow trade centre.

In addition, Hanoi wants Moscow to share its experience and transfer technology in smart city building, especially its smart transport system, Chung said.

The two cities will also work to promote each other’s images to the world through a cooperation project between Hanoi and Moscow’s 24-hr television channels.

They will also collaborate to ensure successful organisation of the “Moscow Days in Hanoi” event slated for November this year, part of activities celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of Vietnam-Russia diplomatic relations. Chung took the occasion to invite Sobyanin and his spouse to visit Hanoi during the event.

Echoing his guest’s views, Sobyanin said Moscow is willing to provide documents and send experts to help Hanoi develop its smart transport system, public services programme, high-tech healthcare services, and arrange training courses and exchange programmes for students. –VNA