VietNamNet Bridge – President Truong Tan Sang will pay an official visit to Russia from July 26-30 to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.

President Truong Tan Sang. (Source: VNA)
The visit was made at the invitation of the Russian President, Vladimir V.Putin, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He will hold talks and meetings with President Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and many other senior leaders of Russia.
The Vietnamese President is scheduled to visit the autonomous region of Nhenhetsky where he will attend a ceremony to welcome the first oil flow pumped from an oilfield by the joint venture RusVietpetro.

The strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia has developed well over the years based on the regular exchange visits by top leaders of the two countries, as well as their strategic dialogues on diplomacy, security and national defence.

Bilateral economic, investment and trade ties have also grown and flourished. Despite the global economic slowdown, two-way trade last year hit US$1.98 billion, up 8 percent against 2010.

Russia has so far poured nearly 1 billion into 78 investment projects in Vietnam, ranking 23rd amongst foreign investors in the country.

Vietnamese investment in Russia also rose from more than US$100 million in 2008 to US$776 million as of May 2012.

President’s upcoming Russia visit grabs the headlines

Major Russia media agencies, including ITAR-TASS, RIA-Novosti, the Voice of Russia, and Russian Television, on July 20 ran wide coverage on the upcoming visit to Moscow by Vietnamese State President Truong Tan Sang.

President Sang will pay an official five-day visit to Russia, starting on July 26, at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin.
The two Presidents will hold talks in Sochi city to seek measures to strengthen bilateral political dialogues and boost two-way trade, which rose 25.2 percent in 2011 to hit over US$3 billion.

They will look at the possibility of implementing joint projects, primarily on energy, information technology, machinery manufacturing, and on sci-tech cooperation.

According to the Russian media agencies, Putin and Sang will exchange views on urgent world issues, including preparations for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) due to take place in Vladivostok, Russia, on September 8-9.
During the visit, both sides are expected to sign a number of cooperation agreements.

VNN/VOV/VNA