Bilateral trade and investment between Vietnam and Russia have developed fast over the past years.

The statement was made by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran
Quoc Khanh in a meeting of Vietnamese and Russian enterprises in Hanoi
on February 28.

The event also drew the
participation of Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrey Kovtun, Director
of Russian Trade Representative Agency in Vietnam Maxim Golikov,
Secretary – General of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(VCCI) Pham Thi Thu Hang.

Khanh stressed that in
2012, the two-way trade turnover reached 2.4 billion USD, a 24 percent
increase from 2011. Noticeably, the trade turnover in January 2013 was
254 million USD, a 46 percent raise compared to the same period last
year.

The turnover does not reflect the countries’
potentialities and strengths and in order to meet the two sides’ demand,
the enterprises hope to promote trading in commodities with comparative
advantages, namely banking-finance services, said Khanh.

He said the ministry has pledged to back the two sides’ enterprises,
which helps further the bilateral trade and improve investment quality.

Hang said Russia’s joining the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) will facilitate the traditional Vietnamese – Russian
trade.

Accordingly, Russia will have to take
commitment on cutting import tax and removing trade barriers, which is
advantageous to Vietnam ’s key exports such as agricultural, forestry
and aquatic goods and garments.

The VCCI and
Russia’s promotion agencies will work together to foster cooperation
between the two sides’ firms, Hang added.

For his part, Kovtun expressed his hopes in the development of the Vietnamese and Russian trade cooperation.

Russia is now having 89 projects in Vietnam with a total capital of over 1 billion USD, noted the diplomat.-VNA