The President of Vietnam receives the Speaker of the Russian State Duma (+ photo)

Volodin had arrived in this capital the day before, and according to the National Assembly (parliament) website, he subsequently visited the mausoleum of President Ho Chi Minh, laid a wreath at the Monument to Heroes and Martyrs, and toured the Traditions Chamber of the Vietnamese legislature.

He also spoke with National Assembly Speaker Vuong Dinh Hue, who stressed that Russia has always been an absolute priority in Vietnam’s foreign policy.

Dinh Huy stressed the importance of Volodin’s visit, which he said contributes to strengthening parliamentary friendship and cooperation in particular, and between the two countries in general, and urged the strengthening of joint cooperation projects in the field of science and technology.

He added that Vietnam would like to strengthen cooperation in the field of vocational education, as well as resume and soon conclude negotiations on the intergovernmental agreement allowing the regulation of recruitment of Vietnamese citizens to work in the Russian Federation.

He pointed out that in addition, he is interested in increasing tourism cooperation, overcoming difficulties in reopening direct flights between the capitals of the two countries, and enhancing people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between localities.

Regarding the goal of bilateral trade reaching $10 billion by 2030, the head of the Vietnamese legislature proposed that Russia investigate and consider simplifying procedures for importing Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products.

He also hinted at the need to strengthen negotiations and complete the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union, and reiterated the importance of cooperation in the fields of oil, gas and energy, which is an important pillar of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

For his part, Volodin agreed to highlight the good progress achieved by bilateral relations, and classified Vietnam and Russia as strategic friends. However, he noted that the two sides should look for new forms of cooperation to further develop these relations.

He noted that although there are representatives of five political parties in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, all parliamentarians want and support the development of cooperative relations with Vietnam.

The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee is so far the first and only mechanism of this kind signed between the Vietnamese National Assembly and a foreign legislative body, and its second session – scheduled to be held today – has been postponed from 2020 due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

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