Moscow wants to boost economic ties with Hanoi, according to the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. He said the two countries have agreed to nearly triple trade turnover by the end of next year.
Medvedev is currently on an official visit to Vietnam where he has already met with the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
“We have agreed to cooperate more closely and effectively implement a free trade agreement Vietnam has signed with the (Russia-led) Eurasian Economic Union,” Phuc told reporters Monday after meeting with Medvedev.
He explained the two countries are looking to facilitate bilateral trade in farm produce and seafood and will have measures to support joint energy investment projects.
The volume of Russia-Vietnam trade amounted to $3.37 billion in January-August 2018. Last year, trade turnover increased by 36.2 percent to $5.23 billion. Russia’s exports to Vietnam include machinery and equipment, grain crops, food products, mineral raw materials, metals, etc. Imports included electrical engineering and components, mobile phones, textiles, food, and agricultural raw materials.
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Vietnam was the fourth largest buyer of Russian wheat after Egypt, Turkey and Bangladesh in the previous marketing season. The Southeast Asian country has imported 1.2 million tons of Russian wheat since the start of the current 2018/19 marketing season on July 1.
According to Medvedev, the sides will expand their cooperation in the oil and gas industries and transportation. Russia currently invests in over a hundred projects in Vietnam worth almost $1 billion, including oil and gas exploration.
Three years ago, Vietnam joined the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), becoming the first non-regional country to enter the bloc. The free trade zone agreement allows Russian car manufacturers to produce vehicles in Vietnam.
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