Dmitry Medvedev: Mr President,
I would like once again to welcome you and welcome all of our Vietnamese friends here today. I want to inform you that we have just held very productive talks on our bilateral cooperation in narrow format and now will continue these discussions in expanded format.
To say a few words about what we discussed, we noted that our cooperation is showing strong and rapid growth, including our work together based on the previously agreed plans – the control list of priority objectives. I hope that this list will be carried out this year and next year. I am sure that this full and multi-faceted cooperation will receive a boost from the many agreements we will sign during your visit.
We have indeed developed many good projects and achieved many new results over recent times. We have established a mechanism, namely the Intergovernmental Commission, to oversee this work. During this meeting I think we could also give the floor to the commission’s chairmen.
We have very good relations in all areas of trade and economic policy and investment cooperation. We spoke about our work together in the oil and gas sector, the electricity sector and the mining industry. We are active in developing direct ties between entrepreneurs in our regions. I think this is also a very important area for cooperation.
I think that at this current time inter-bank relations, including settlements using our national currencies — the rouble and the dong — are also of great importance.
There are good ideas for cooperation in machine-building, telecommunications, disaster relief and rapid response, and also in what we discussed today, Mr President, that is to say education, science and humanitarian ties.
We place great value too on our work together on the ‘Tropical Centre’ project. I recently signed a decree awarding Russian state decorations to our Vietnamese comrades.
Our cooperation really is now moving to a new level. We are very pleased to welcome our Vietnamese comrades to the Kremlin. Now I would like to give you the floor, Mr President.
Nguyen Minh Triet (as translated): Good afternoon, Mr Medvedev, dear friends,
I would like to thank you, Mr President, for this invitation to visit Russia, and I thank you for the warm and impressive reception that you, the Russian leadership and the Russian people have given me and the Vietnamese delegation.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and the Russian people on your great achievements in developing your country’s economy and strengthening Russia’s role and position on the international stage.
I am sure that under your leadership Russia will become ever stronger and more powerful. Russia is making an effort to continue building a just, stable and prosperous world. I am very pleased to see that the strategic partnership relations between our countries have been growing so well of late. Our cooperation helps to build up the strategic partnership and friendship between Russia and Vietnam.