General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong had a meeting with Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia Andrey Turchak in Moscow on September 7. 

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (left) and Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia Andrey Turchak

The Vietnamese Party leader thanked the Federation Council and parliamentarians for their support of the friendly and cooperative ties between Russia and Vietnam, and stressed that for Vietnam, Russia is both a traditional big partner and a loyal friend. 

He asked the Russian Federation Council to continue cooperate and share with the Vietnamese National Assembly its experience in law making and supervising activities, especially when Vietnam is accelerating the building of a law-based state, perfecting its legal system and enhancing the role of the NA and elected bodies. 

The Federation Council Deputy Speaker affirmed that he will support bilateral cooperation across all sectors, thus helping deepen the Russia-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership. 

He appreciated the collaboration between the two law-making bodies in the recent past, and pledged to work to promote stronger ties both bilaterally and at regional and international inter-parliamentary forums. 

He voiced support of stronger economic, trade and investment cooperation between Russia and Vietnam through specific programmes, plans and projects, as well as of more sharing of experience and closer coordination in supervising the implementation of signed cooperative agreements.

Host and guest expressed joy at the progress in bilateral ties, noting that the sound political ties and mutual understanding create a solid foundation for diverse and effective cooperation between the two countries. They also praised the important contributions made by the two parliaments to strengthening the friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries and two peoples.      

The two sides also welcomed the contribution made by parliamentarians to local-level cooperation and reached a consensus on promoting cooperation between their businesses and localities and people-to-people exchange, while facilitating the partnership between localities of the two countries based on each other’s potential and needs.                

Also in the framework of the Party General Secretary’s visit, Minister of Education Phung Xuan Nha had working sessions with his Russian counterpart and officials of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education. He also witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements between Vietnamese and Russian universities.

Party leader meets with Chairman of A Just Russia party

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong (R) and Chairman of A Just Russia (SR) party Sergey Mironov 

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong received Chairman of A Just Russia (SR) party Sergey Mironov in Moscow on September 7, as part of his official visit to Russia. 

The SR leader welcomed the official visit to Russia by the CPV General Secretary and recalled his deep impression during his trip to Vietnam last April, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the CPV and the SR, which called for bilateral exchange and mutual consultation and support. 

Mironov suggested that legal consultative and assistance offices in Russia can provide free of charge legal assistance for Vietnamese nationals living and working in Russia if they request. 

He wished the visit of the CPV General Secretary a success and voiced his hope that the ties between the SR and the CPV will be further cemented in the interest of both nations. 

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong noted that Vietnam and Russia have established a comprehensive strategic partnership and will mark the 25th year since they signed the treaty on basic principles of their friendship ties and 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2019 and 2020. 

He made clear that his visit this time aims to affirm the resolve to further deepen the close relationship between the people of the two countries. 

The Vietnamese party leader spoke highly of the principles and goals of the SR striving for a fair, free and equal society, and happiness for the people. 

He welcomed the SR leader’s proposal on legal assistance for Vietnamese nationals in Russia, and stressed that he will support what are beneficial to the two parties and people of the two countries.

Party leader stresses Vietnam-Russia economic ties in Kaluga Oblast tour

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Gordeyev (R) welcomes Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in Kaluga Oblast on September 7

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong continued his official visit to Russia on September 7 with a tour of Kaluga Oblast, one of the most economically developed localities in the country.

At a working session with the Vietnamese leader, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Gordeyev affirmed that Vietnam is a friend and long-term partner of Kaluga. The two sides have enjoyed win-win cooperation in economy, trade, investment, social sciences, and humanities.

He noted that the most positive improvement of the two countries’ relations is seen in economy and trade, with the trend continuing this year and proving that the establishment of a free trade area between the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Russia is a member, and Vietnam is a good step forward. He described the Vietnam-based TH Group’s construction of animal farming complexes in Kaluga, and some other localities in Russia, as a bright example of the bilateral partnership.

General Secretary Trong’s current trip to Kaluga demonstrates that locality-to-locality cooperation is an important field in the countries’ connections, Gordeyev added.

Trong said he was happy to visit Kaluga for the first time and witness the dynamic development of this oblast as one of the fastest growing localities of Russia, taking the lead in investment attraction and advanced technology application. He expressed his delight at the enormous successes Kaluga has attained and wished it even stronger development in the future.

He highlighted that in the two countries’ relations, economic, trade, and investment partnerships have played a pivotal role. In their talks and meetings, the Vietnamese and Russian leaders shared the view that the outcomes of their bilateral relations has yet to match their full potential. To promote economic, trade, and investment ties, they need to actively remove obstacles and create favourable conditions for each other’s enterprises to expand investment, production, and business activities.

TH Group is a private Vietnamese firm that has been investing big in Russia, he said, thanking the Russian Government and the administration of Kaluga and asking them to continue their creation of optimal conditions for Vietnamese investors, including TH Group, and thereby contributing to local socio-economic development and the increase of the two countries’ relations.

Introducing local strengths, Kaluga Governor Anatoly Artamonov said dairy farming is a top priority for local agriculture. In 2017, the oblast produced more than 305,000 tonnes of milk and was the biggest milk producer in Russia.

TH Group’s investment into a dairy factory in the Kaluga Special Economic Zone holds special significance in terms of promoting cooperation between Vietnamese and Russian localities, he said, promising that Kaluga will create the best possible conditions for the plant to operate and also boost collaborations with Vietnam in other aspects.

The Governor also said his oblast wants to actively take part in activities as part of the Russian Year in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Year in Russia in 2019. It also hopes to pair with a Vietnamese locality and will encourage Kaluga businesses to invest in the Southeast Asian nation.

General Secretary Trong welcomed his host’s proposals on activities to mark the upcoming important anniversaries of bilateral ties in 2019 and 2020. He added that the Vietnamese side will introduce a locality to pair with Kaluga so as to contribute to the overall expansion of Vietnam-Russia relations.

Also on September 7, the Party chief attended a ceremony to start the construction of TH Group’s dairy factory in the Kaluga Special Economic Zone. The factory is expected to become one of the biggest and most modern of its kind in Russia. Invested with some 150 million USD, it is set to cover 14ha and produce 1,500 tonnes of milk products per day once operational.

TH Group has invested 2.7 billion USD in dairy cow farming and high-tech milk processing complexes, along with some food-related projects, in Russia’s Moscow Oblast, Kaluga Oblast, Primorsky Kray, and the Republic of Bashkortostan.

General Secretary Trong applauded efforts by TH Group, the first private Vietnamese company to have invested in Russian agriculture. He called the factory in Kaluga the beginning of a new trend in the bilateral investment partnership of Vietnamese firms investing in Russia.

He voiced his hope that more Vietnamese businesses will invest in Russia, including Kaluga, to produce high-quality products, create jobs for local people, and contribute to local development. 

Chairman of Russian State Duma hails visit by Vietnamese Party leader

Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong (left) and Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vuacheslav Volodin at their meeting in Moscow 

Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin appreciated the official visit by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, saying that it will contribute greatly to deepening the Russia-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership, of which parliamentary ties is an important part. 

During a meeting with the CPV leader in Moscow on September 7, the Russian top legislator spoke highly of the increasing position and role of Vietnam in the region and the international arena, and affirmed that the Russian Duma pays special attention to promoting the cooperation in all fields between Russia and Vietnam.                          

General Secretary Trong congratulated Russia for successfully organizing the 137th General Assembly of the International Parliamentarian Union (IPU), which he said reiterated Russia’s prestige and important position in the international arena as well as in the world’s largest parliamentary organization. He thanked the State Duma of Russia, which comprises representatives from various political parties and forces, for their consensus with the policy to develop the friendship, solidarity and multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries and two peoples.

Both host and guest valued the effective partnership between the Russian State Duma and Vietnamese National Assembly, and agreed that the two legislative bodies should continue to exchange delegations at high level, committee level and friendship parliamentarians’ group level so as to enhance mutual understanding, and share law-making experience while working to create favourable legal conditions for handling issues related to traveling, living and working of each country’s citizens in the other’s territories.                         

They agreed that besides bilateral cooperation, the two sides should enhance coordination and consultation at inter-parliamentary forums such as the IPU and the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum. 

They also called for the two countries’ parliaments to support stronger economic, trade and investment ties and facilitate the implementation of prioritized joint projects while strengthening supervision of the enforcement of agreements between the two governments, thus creating positive changes in Vietnam-Russia cooperation. 

The CPV leader took the occasion to extend an invitation to visit Vietnam from National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan to the Russian Duma chairman, who accepted the invitation with pleasure.

VNA