The Federation Council Speaker had a meeting with the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko met with President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc, to discuss bilateral cooperation.
The Speaker stressed the importance the President of Vietnam’s visit to Russia. “We see this visit as very important and share the interest in continuing the dialogue.”
Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that for Vietnam, Russia “is a priority partner in foreign policy.”
Valentina Matvienko noted that Russia and Vietnam have special historical ties: the two countries marked the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2020, the 20th anniversary of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership in 2021, and in 2023, they will mark ten years since the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership that characterises the spirit of the bilateral relations.
The Speaker thanked Nguyen Xuan Phuc for his attention to the dynamically developing inter-parliamentary dialogue pertaining to Russia-Vietnam relations. The counterparts noted the active interaction between the parliament members of Russia and Vietnam at various international platforms, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Eurasian Women’s Forum.
Valentina Matvienko noted that a group of friendship with the National Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam has existed in the Federation Council for many years, headed by First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Andrey Yatskin.
“As a chamber representing regions, we pay great attention to the interaction of Russian regions with the cities and provinces of Vietnam. We appreciate the high interest of the Russian and Vietnamese regions in establishing contacts with each other. These ties, not only at the level of major cities and entities such as Moscow, St Petersburg and Ho Chi Minh City, hold great potential when it comes to economic and humanitarian cooperation.”
According to the President of Vietnam, there is a high potential for the development of trade and economic cooperation in energy, oil and gas, as well as in humanitarian affairs, culture and tourism.
Cooperation in the context of countering the spread of COVID-19 were discussed. Valentina Matvienko said she hoped that there would soon be mutual recognition of vaccination certificates, which would help expand trade, business and tourist contacts between the states.
The Speaker accepted the President of Vietnam’s invitation to pay an official visit to the country.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management Alexei Mayorov, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy Inna Svyatenko, Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on the Rules of Procedure and Parliamentary Governance Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn.
The Federation Council Speaker and the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam toured a photo exhibition dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership. During the tour, one of the photographs was presented to Nguyen Xuan Phuc.