Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov started his official trip to Vietnam on February 16 by holding discussions with his Vietnamese counterpart Phan Van Khai, state media reported.
The talk on February 16, which focuses on energy cooperation, is expected to arrive at a number of bilateral intergovernmental documents, the news source said.
Highlighted issues during the talk are Russia’s demand to expand Vietsovpetro, a Russian-Vietnamese joint-venture, proposed to help Vietnam build its first nuclear power plant.
Besides, the two government leaders discussed other issues, namely trade, investment, and technical agriculture cooperation, the source revealed. Fradkov also met with General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, President Tran Duc Luong and Chairman of National Assembly Nguyen Van An after the talk with Khai.
The delegation accompanying Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov includes the Industrial and Energy Minister, Head of National Atomic Energy Agency, Head of National Space Agency, vice head of Central Bank, Vice Director in charged of Drug Prevention, and the Economic and Trade Development Deputy Minister.
In a related development, Vietnam-Russia Joint Committee on February 15 held a conference to prepare for the coming of Prime Minister Fradkov. Vietnamese Industrial Minister Hoang Trung Hai and Russian Minister of Industry and Energy attended the meeting.
The two sides have signed a cooperative agreement pledging to work closely in areas of oil exploitation, coal, energy and automobile manufacture. They also agreed to quickly establish two subcommittees on industry and energy and set up a energy equipment and manufacturing joint-venture in Vietnam.
To date, Vietnam has attracted around US$278 million from 47 Russian projects excluding the giant Vietsopetro project, which would push the total to US$1.5 billion, helping Russia being ranked among Vietnam’s top ten investors.
Meanwhile Vietnam invests US$38 million in 11 projects in Russia.
The People, VNA
Vietnamese
