RUSSIA, December 1 - Mikhail Mishustin held talks with President of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Excerpt from the transcript:

Mikhail Mishustin: I am very glad to welcome you, comrade Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Welcome to the House of Government of the Russian Federation.

We had a telephone conversation in April 2020. Back then, you were still Prime Minister of Vietnam. I am happy to have a chance to meet you in person and continue our constructive dialogue.

Yesterday you had talks with President of Russia Vladimir Putin where you discussed almost all aspects of our bilateral agenda and, of course, the most important international topics, and also made an entire range of decisions to further promote the comprehensive strategic partnership that unites Russia and Vietnam.

I would like to specially note that the Russian-Vietnamese relations of friendship and partnership are based on our common glorious history. We remember that Russia supported the Vietnamese nation’s fight for liberation from colonialism and helped it defend its independence back then. And right now we are marking the 20^th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and Russia.

Our trade and economic cooperation is steadily progressing. Despite the coronavirus, in January – September bilateral trade grew more than 16 percent compared to 2020 and amounted to $5 billion.

Co-chair of our intergovernmental commission Dmitry Chernyshenko is working hard. We are cooperating with you fruitfully in counteracting the coronavirus pandemic. We have sent cutting-edge test systems and a mobile lab to Vietnam, as well as Russian-made vaccines that have proved their efficiency.

The production of 1 million doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V has begun in Vietnam. The possibility of delivering the Sputnik Light vaccine is being discussed. I am sure that the mass vaccination of the population will help us protect people’s health and overcome the pandemic.

We are interested in expanding our cultural and humanitarian interaction. We hope that after the pandemic restrictions are lifted, we will conclude the events as part of the cross years of Russia and Vietnam. We also welcome the decision of the Vietnamese leadership to restore the Russian language as the first foreign language at schools.

Your visit will coincide with the signing of an entire series of very important documents and agreements. They outline new areas of cooperation in industry, culture, energy, justice and interaction between our central banks.

I am confident that these agreements will give an impetus to the further development of multifaceted Russian-Vietnamese cooperation. Please, respected comrade Nguyen Xuan Phuc, take the floor.

Nguyen Xuan Phuc: Mr Mishustin, the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, colleagues,

I am happy to hold this first meeting with you. As you said, we had a telephone conversation in April 2020. Today, we will discuss issues that are important for our bilateral cooperation.

Let me introduce our delegation members.

This is Mr Le Van Thanh, Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the Vietnamese part of the intergovernmental commission.

Mr Le Khanh Hai, Head of the Presidential Executive Office.

Comrade Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Industry and Trade.

Comrade Nguyen Kim Son, Minister of Education and Training.

Comrade Huynh Thanh Dat, Minister of Science and Technology.

Comrade Tran Quoc To, Deputy Minister of Public Security.

Comrade Dang Minh Khoi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to Russia.

Comrade To Anh Dung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Comrade Nguyen Cao Luc, First Deputy Chief of the Government Office.

Comrade Tạ Quang Dong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Comrade Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, Deputy Minister of Justice.

Comrade Do Xuan Tuyen, Deputy Minister of Health.

Comrade Tran Thanh Nam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Comrade Tran Duy Dong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment.

Comrade Nguyen Kim Anh, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam.

As you see, I have brought an expanded high-ranking delegation to Russia.

Mr Mishustin, Vietnam is carefully watching the developments in Russia and we are happy to note the achievements you have reached over the past years. We see that Russia, being one of the world’s leading countries, has achieved great success in the development of the country and improvement of the life of its people. We believe that there has been a big contribution by the Russian Government and your personal contribution, Mr Mishustin, especially amid such a pandemic.

The pandemic has brought many hardships, but we see that Russia stands on solid ground, preserves peace and stability in the world. Russia’s economy is also growing at a steady pace and the wellbeing of its citizens is improving as well.

Vietnam considers it important to maintain comprehensive strategic partnership between our countries. We remember and are thankful to you for the assistance Russia provided to us for the cause of the liberation of Vietnam earlier and now, when we are building our country. We want to develop these relations with you in various fields. We are ready to develop political measures in order to make a breakthrough in certain areas, especially in such strategic ones as energy, oil and gas.

I commend the success of the 23^rd meeting of the intergovernmental commission held in the online format. I believe that during that meeting, we overcame many difficulties and many obstacles that could have hindered the development of our cooperation. I also commend the responsibility of the co-chairs of the intergovernmental commission who prepared well for this visit. Experience shows that if we interact well, the work will be productive. Before this meeting, I took part in a business dialogue and saw that many contracts were signed there. As you have noted, 14 cooperation agreements have been signed during my visit.

Yesterday I held important talks with President of Russia Vladimir Putin and today I would like to discuss certain measures designed to develop our countries’ relations and deepen our strategic partnership.