President Tran Dai Quang concludes official visit to Russia on July 1 (Source: VNA)
Moscow (VNA) – President Tran Dai Quang,
his spouse and a Vietnamese delegation left Saint Petersburg city on July 1,
concluding a four-day official visit to Russia at the invitation of President
Vladimir Putin.
Earlier on the same day, the Vietnamese President
met Governor of Saint Petersburg city Georgy Sergeyevich Poltavchenko
in the Smolny City Hall and representatives of local businesses.
The Governor said Vietnam is a key and important
partner of the city, adding that the relations between the city and Vietnamese
localities, particularly Ho Chi Minh City and the southern province of Khanh
Hoa, have been built on firm foundations.
He mentioned his visit to HCM City in December
2015 during which the two sides signed numerous agreements on trade and
tourism.
Georgy Sergeyevich Poltavchenko underlined
education – training as an important aspect in the cooperation between his city
and Vietnamese localities, saying that thousands of Vietnamese officials have been
trained in Saint Petersburg, which is now home to more than 300 Vietnamese
students.
Around 25 cooperation agreements have been
signed between Saint Petersburg and Vietnamese universities. The city houses
the first Ho Chi Minh Institute outside the territory of Vietnam.
Trade between Saint Petersburg and Vietnamese
provinces and cities reached 100 million USD in the first quarter of this year,
the Governor said, expressing his belief that the effective Vietnam-EAEU free
trade agreement will help boost the figure.
Besides businesses effectively operating in
Vietnam, many others from the city have eyed investment in the country,
particularly in areas of their strength such as mechanical engineering,
electricity device production, port infrastructure development, and water
treatment, he said.
He expressed his belief that the official visit
of President Tran Dai Quang will create an important impetus for the economic,
trade and investment ties between Vietnam and Russia, including Saint
Petersburg.
He revealed that his city plans to launch the
first-ever photo exhibition featuring late President Ho Chi Minh at the
Ermitage Museum in May 2019, as part of the activities to mark the 25th
anniversary of the treaty on the basic principles for Vietnam-Russia
friendship.
For his part, President Tran Dai Quang expressed
his admiration for the significant achievements the city has made, saying that it
deserves to be an economic, cultural, tourism and educational hub of Russia.
Expressing his delight at the fruitful multifaceted
cooperation between Vietnam and Russia, the President spoke highly of the
efforts made by the localities of the two nations to consolidate the
relationship.
The regular exchange of delegations has contributed to boosting Vietnam-Russia
economic and trade ties, he said, adding the effective collaboration between
the two countries’ localities will be a factor propelling the bilateral
relationship. Two-way trade value between Vietnam and Russia reached 1.1
billion USD in the first four months of this year.
In addition to enhancing cooperation in
traditional sectors like oil and gas, energy, education and culture, the two
sides have expanded collaboration to new fields, including automobile
manufacturing, space cooperation for peace, railway, and infrastructure
construction.
Hailing the fine connection between Saint
Petersburg and Vietnamese localities, the President affirmed that Vietnam will
continue creating the most favourable conditions for the relationship to
develop in a more practical and effective manner.
Also on July 1, the Vietnamese State leader and
his entourage visited the Monument to Lenin in
the Smolny City Hall and the ongoing eighth International Maritime
Defence Show MVMS-2017 at the Lenexpo exhibition complex in the city.
He also visited the ancient Ekaterina Palace –
one of the architectural icons of Russia and the world – in Pushkin city, around
30 kilometres south of Saint Petersburg.-VNA