Chairman of Russia’s State Duma Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in Hanoi, December 24, 2018. (Photo: VNA)

During talks on Monday, the two parliamentary leaders praised the active implementation of a 2013 cooperative agreement, regular exchanges of high-ranking delegations, as well as the sharing of experience in legislation and improvement of their parliaments’ operation. They also applauded Vietnam-Russia mutual support at the level of global parliamentary cooperation. The leaders signed an agreement on the establishment of an Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Commission.

Chairman of Russia’s State Duma Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (Photo: VNA)

In a meeting the same day with Chairman Volodin, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc praised Russia for speeding up cooperative projects in oil and gas, e-government building, and the construction of a Centre for Nuclear Energy Science and Technology. He urged the State Duma to lobby for the expansion of Vietnamese seafood exports to Russia. Prime Minister Phuc suggested that cooperation in energy, especially in oil and gas, should be the pillar of bilateral ties. He reiterated that Vietnam always creates the best possible conditions for Russia’s oil and gas groups to operate effectively in Vietnam.

Chairman Volodin agreed that long-lasting bilateral relations have developed strongly. Bilateral trade has grown 35% this year and is expected to hit 10 billion USD in 2020, he noted.