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Speaking at a press conference ahead of the roundtable, Director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies Sergey Luzianin showed his belief that the Vietnamese Party leader’s upcoming visit will help deepen the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership, especially in the aspects of economics, politics and humanitarian.
According to him, the bilateral political ties are at a high level of the strategic partnership. Vietnam is also the first country signing a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which is expected to help expand its relations with Russia in particular and five EAEU member states in general.
Cultural bonds have also been strengthened. Next year, for the first time, the Russia Year in Vietnam and the Vietnam Year in Russia will be held, creating opportunities to enhance the bilateral ties, he added.
As one of the leading Russian experts on Vietnamese studies, Director of the Vietnam-ASEAN Research Centre Vladimir Mazyrin provided the Russian press with an insight into Vietnam’s political system under the leadership of the Communist Party. He highlighted the personal prestige of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and his leading role in the fight against corruption.
In the economic field, despite the appearance of new projects, it remains a difficult task for the two countries to raise two-way trade to 10 billion USD by 2020, he stated, stressing the need for strategic projects.
Considering the strategic partnership between the two countries, Russia should gain access to Vietnam’s strategic fields such as nuclear power and large-scale projects like subway transport, he added.
Discussions at the roundtable shed light into how the Doi Moi policy fuelled socio-economic development in Vietnam, turning the country into a “tiger of Asia”. Participants also agreed that an external policy on the principle of independence, self-reliance, peace, multilateral cooperation and proactive integration has improved the country’s image and created a favourable environment for its development.
Vietnam’s upcoming hosting of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN was also mentioned at the discussions.
Grigory Trofimchuk, Chairman of the Expert Council of Research Support Foundation “Workshop of Eurasian Ideas”, said that the role of Vietnam has increased in not only Southeast Asia but also the Asia-Pacific region and the whole world, as seen in the fact that the country has hosted many forums significant to economic development in these regions.
He added that therefore, the Russia-Vietnam-ASEAN relations will focus on not only ensuring regional security but also seeking measures to increase economic and financial benefits for all parties involved.
