The Communist Party of Vietnam always treasures traditional friendship with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), said Politburo member Nguyen Van Binh, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission.

He made the statement during talks with KPRF Chairman Gennady Zyuganov and first Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, head of the Russian Sub-Committee of the Vietnam-Russia Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic-Trade and Scientific-Technological Cooperation during the Russia visit from September 8-14. 

Binh suggested the two Parties continue enhancing political cooperation and maintain regular exchange of visits at all levels to raise mutual understanding and trust. 

He called on Russia to soon remove administrative and technical barriers to Vietnamese goods, particularly farm produce. 

The Vietnamese guest and Deputy PM Shuvalov agreed that the two countries hold huge potential of cooperating in energy, transport and agriculture, among others. 

Binh affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State always give high priority to Russia’s key projects in energy, oil and gas, transport, agriculture and industry. 

Both sides agreed to direct agencies to effectively implement agreements reached by their leaders, including building a nuclear science-technology centre in Vietnam.

Shuvalov pledged to increase scholarships for Vietnamese students and offer jobs at nuclear power plants in Russia and Belarus to Vietnamese graduates majoring in nuclear science in the near future.

Host and guest committed to close liaison to effectively implement the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union, towards lifting two-way trade to 10 billion USD by 2020. 

The Vietnamese official spoke highly of Russia’s initiative to hold monthly meetings with ministries and agencies concerned and quarterly meetings with representatives of the Vietnamese embassy to clear barriers to bilateral economic and trade ties. 

During working sessions with the International Bank for Economic Cooperation (IBEC) and the International Bank to which Vietnam is member, the Russia side expressed wish to soon accelerate domestic currency payment mechanism to ease payment barriers. 

In the afternoon on September 14, Binh left Moscow for Hanoi, concluding the Russian visit to attend the Eastern Economic Forum.

VNA