Russia, Vietnam aim for further promotion of partnership — statement

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc made a statement in the wake of their talks in Moscow, describing their vision of development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries until 2030. The statement was published on the Kremlin’s website. The statement confirms the "mutual intent for further promotion of relations of comprehensive strategic partnership" and notes the intent "for further deepening of bilateral relations and escalation of these relations to a new level." "The relations of comprehensive strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are based upon years-long traditions of friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation, laid down by the previous generations. They have been tested by time, they are not affected by conjuncture oscillations, and serve as an example of mutually respectful cooperation that corresponds to the basic interests of the two countries," the document says, adding that the "political dialogue is characterized by a high degree of trust." The document underscores that "Russia and Vietnam do not enter alliances and do not sign agreements with third countries in order to carry out actions that harm each other’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and basic interests," and that "the development of Russian-Vietnamese relations is not aimed against any third side." At the same time, it states "similarity or concurrence of approaches of Russia and Vietnam to the majority of issues of international and regional agenda," and expresses the intent to continue the cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral formats. Economy Russia and Vietnam will make efforts to expand cooperation in various sectors of the economy, according to the joint statement. "The sides consider economic cooperation as a major component of their comprehensive strategic partnership and will make efforts to expand it," the statement reads. Russia and Vietnam reiterated their readiness to boost the efficiency of the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Vietnam to promote trade. Apart from that, the sides agreed to encourage mutual investments in electricity generation, including renewable, industry, production of mineral resources, etc. They also agreed to expand cooperation in the energy sector, in the area of construction of gas-powered electricity plants, supplies of liquefied natural gas to Vietnam and building corresponding infrastructure. The presidents pledged to create favorable conditions for the activities of Russian and Vietnamese oil and gas companies on each other’s territories. According to the statement, Russia and Vietnam will develop cooperation in the spheres of industry, agriculture, forestry, credit and finance. They will also continue cooperation in the area of electronic government and will encourage closer ties between regions. "The sides advocate deepening of the regional economic integration and implementation of initiatives related to the inter-regional interconnection, including the Greater Eurasian Partnership project, as well as strengthening of economic ties between ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The Russian Federation and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam will facilitate the further increase of cooperation between ASEAN, EAEU and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization," the statement says. Besides, Russia and Vietnam will continue their cooperation within various regional and trans-regional forums. According to the document, the sides will seek to increase their educational and scientific ties. In this context, the document points out the development of cooperation on use of peaceful atomic energy, particularly within the construction of the Centre for nuclear science and technology in Vietnam. "Should Vietnam return to its plans of building national atomic energy industry, Russia will be viewed as a priority partner in this field," the statement underscores. Russia and Vietnam will also continue working on digitalization and management of trans-national databases. Besides, the two countries will continue to cooperate on culture, sports, tourism and migration issues. The sides also agreed to promote cooperation in healthcare and pharmaceutical industry "on the basis of cooperation experience, accumulated while fighting the pandemic of novel coronavirus COVID-19." Among the areas of cooperation, the document outlines "exchange of personnel and innovations," as well as "creating favorable conditions for mutual supplies of vaccines and other medicines, organizing their joint production and transferring relevant technologies." Defense cooperation Russia and Vietnam are poised to strengthen contacts between security and law enforcement agencies of the two states, and to broaden military and technical cooperation, the two leaders said in a joint statement on Tuesday. "Cooperation in the military and technical sphere, as well as in the security domain, holds a special place in the structure of Russian-Vietnamese relations. It is developing continuously for the benefit of Russia, Vietnam, and their peoples, helping to preserve peace and maintain stability on the regional and global level," reads the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The document says that Moscow and Hanoi "will continue to deepen cooperation in the sphere of defense and security, military and defense cooperation on the basis of international law, in the interests of peace and stability in the region and worldwide." "The sides will maintain regular contacts between defense and security agencies, including at the level of their chiefs, broaden relevant contacts in this area and ties in the sphere of personnel training," the statement says. Russia and Vietnam will also "improve cooperation mechanisms and legislative foundations in order to develop efficient cooperation in the defense and security sphere." IT sector and cybersecurity The two leaders also declared plans to continue cooperation in the digital security sphere "in order to prevent the use of information and telecommunication technologies for undermining (infringing upon) sovereignty, violating the territorial integrity of states and performing other actions in the global digital space that undermine efforts of maintaining international peace, security and stability." Russia and Vietnam call for drafting under the United Nations auspices a convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes, the Russian and Vietnamese Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Nguyen Xuan Phuc, said in a joint statement. "Russia and Vietnam call for developing, under the auspices of the United Nations, a comprehensive international convention on counteracting the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes and for further strengthening international cooperation in this sphere," the document says. "The two states stress the importance of closer cooperation between Russia and ASEAN in the area of ensuring international information security and within the Russia-ASEAN format on issues of security of information and communications technologies," it reads. The two countries, according to the statement, stand for strengthening ASEAN’s central role in the Asia Pacific region. Russia and Vietnam insist that security of one state cannot be ensured at the expense of the security of others, "including by means of expanding the current and establishing new closed military political alliances." "Both states reiterate their readiness to promote the consolidation of efforts of the world community to counter the traditional and new security challenges, including terrorism, trans-national crime, armed conflicts, territorial disputes, provoking state coups, illegal production and trafficking of drugs, climate change, and epidemics," the statement says. Russia and Vietnam will continue to develop cooperation to combat international terrorism and express support to international arms control efforts and call for continuing consultations between the five nations possessing nuclear weapons with member states of the Treaty of Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone. Read more