Russia's DM to discuss dvlpmnt of military coop in Hanoi

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23/3 Tass 5

HANOI, March 23 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Defense Minister Anatoly
Serdyukov, who arrived in Vietnam for an official visit on Monday, will
discuss with the Vietnamese leadership prospects for development of
bilateral military, military and technical cooperation.
As press secretary of the Defense Ministry Lieutenant-Colonel Irina
Kovalchuk told ITAR-TASS, "Anatoly Serdyukov will have a meeting with
Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet and hold talks with Vietnamese
Minister of National Defense General of the Army Phung Quang Thanh."
"During the meetings, the sides plan to discuss issues of regional
security, as well as the state of and prospects for development of
Russian-Vietnamese military, military and technical cooperation,"
Kovalchuk specified.
Military and technical cooperation between Moscow and Hanoi began in
1953, and until 1992 it was mainly carried out on a gratis basis. As of
1992, the military and technical cooperation has been carried out on a
commercial basis.
In 1998, an intergovernmental agreement regulating the activity in the
sphere of military and technical cooperation was signed in Hanoi and in
1999 a Russian-Vietnamese intergovernmental commission on military and
technical cooperation was set up. Military and technical cooperation is
planned on the basis of the program of military and technical cooperation
between Russia and Vietnam for 2005-2010 and annual plans.
In October 2008, during a visit of Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh
Triet to Moscow, an intergovernmental memorandum on strategy in military
and technical cooperation for a period until 2020 was signed.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, "since 2008 there is a
stable onward trend in Vietnam's purchasing Russia's military products."
"In 2008, the volume of signed contracts for the first time over the whole
history of cooperation exceeded one billion U.S. dollars, in 2009 - - 3.5
billion U.S. dollars, and in the first quarter of 2010 it already exceeded
one billion dollars," the spokesperson for the Defense Ministry specified.
"During this period of time, contracts on supplies of armaments for
Vietnam's Air Force, Air Defense and Navy were signed."
"During the meetings and talks with the leadership of the Vietnamese
Defense Ministry, the Russian side was informed on the immediate tasks of
Vietnam's Armed Forces to create new structures (submarine forces and
naval aviation), as well as to establish interaction with Russia's Navy in
searching for and rescuing submarines," the spokesperson for the Defense
Ministry said.
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