Putin to visit Seliger-2009 forum Sat.

MOSCOW, July 25 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on
Saturday will visit the All-Russian youth educational forum Seliger-2009.

The press service of the RF government told Itar-Tass that within the
visit programme Putin will get familiarised with the work of the youth
camp and will meet the authors of the best Seliger-2009 projects that will
get an opportunity to ask the prime minister questions.
The all-Russian youth educational forum Seliger-2009 since 2005
gathers young people from all Russian regions. This year the forum has
brought together a record-high number of participants - 50 thousand from
84 regions, which is 10 times more than in 2008.
Seliger-2009 is included in the plan of the main events of the Year of
Youth in Russia as "as state systemic venue for the selection, development
and support of young talented people on the path towards the creation of
competitive products and services, civil and public projects.
RF Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Vitaly Mutko a month
ago invited Putin to communicate with talented Seliger forum participants.
"We invite you to visit Seliger - there will be rather intensive work
there from July 1 to 27," the minister told Putin.
According to Mutko, this year young people undergo training within 8
special programmes. The minister particularly stressed that the venue of
the forum "is federal and is not embraced by any political movements."
"The sense of this health centre on the Seliger is quite simple," he
explained. "We wanted to have 8 shifts there and very mobile education
systems. And in December, at an innovation convention, we will select the
best projects." "The main thing is to give an opportunity to the youth to
get employment and to support talented young people," Mutko stressed.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has also talked to the Seliger-2009
forum participants this year. However, he did not come to the lake, but
had a telebridge communication session with the young people from his
Barvikha residence. Then the head of state and young people discussed
issues of fighting bad habits, nationalism, illegal gaming business, as
well as the need to develop educational projects and grants.
The youth forum on the Seliger Lake will be held until August 15. For
this period of time more than 50,000 young people from 84 republics,
territories and regions of Russia will participate in the forum. During
the forum the following six workshops will be held: "Information Flow"
(the work with media), "You are a Entrepreneur" (youth entrepreneurship),
"Artparad" (creative work), "Technologies of Goodness" (the movement of
volunteers), "Leadership and Youth Public and Political Organisations,"
"Territory" (national tourism). The forum organisers invite prominent
politicians, top managers, businesspeople for each workshop.
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.Russia FM to hold talks with Vietnamese leadership.


HANOI, July 25 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on
Saturday will hold talks with the Vietnamese leadership. He plans meetings
with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan
Dung, as well as with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Gia Khiem. Besides,
the RF foreign minister's official visit programme envisages laying
wreaths at the Fallen Heroes Monument and visiting the Ho Chi Minh
Mausoleum.
Lavrov will discuss with his Vietnamese colleague issues of the
bilateral agenda, measures aimed at the intensification of interaction in
the international arena, first of all in the UN Security Council of which
Vietnam is currently a non-permanent member.
According to Nesterenko, the two foreign ministers plan to work out
"common approaches to the settlement of the most vital problems of the
present day" and coordinate the schedule of future foreign political
contacts. The ministers will also "consider in detail the situation in the
Asia-Pacific region, ways of building up the Russia-ASEAN dialogue
partnership," including the strengthening of coordination of actions in
the format of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) devoted to security matters.
"The sides plan to exchange views on various aspects of activities of
the forum Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), prospects for Russia's
entry into the Asia-Europe forum, possibilities for the improvement of
interaction between the ASEAN and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO)," the RF Foreign Ministry spokesman continued.
Relations between Russia and Vietnam have 60 years' history and "are
not influenced by fluctuations." "The sides have an active political
dialogue at the summit and high levels," Nesterenko noted, "This creates
favourable conditions for building up the bilateral interaction in a wide
variety of spheres," he added.
Touching upon economic cooperation Andrei Nesterenko noted that
positive dynamics is observed in Russian-Vietnamese trade-economic
cooperation. He said the bilateral trade turnover between the two
countries in 2008 exceeded 1.4 billion US dollars. Among the key spheres
of Russia-Vietnam interaction the high-ranking diplomat named the oil and
natural gas sphere, "the flagship of which is the joint enterprise for the
prospecting and recovery of oil and gas on the continental shelf of the
south of Vietnam - Vietsovpetro." The sides are also actively developing
cooperation in the electric power industry sphere, in the spheres of
machine building and transport, telecommunications, education and
personnel training.
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