Vietnam and Russia confirmed nuclear power, oil and gas and the military as the main fields of focus for future co-operation, according to a joint statement released last week following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Vietnam.
President Putin's visit saw major progress on nuclear, oil & gas, and military co-operation
The fields highlighted for continued co-operation have long been part of ties between the two countries and represent more of the same, rather than a shift in policy.
According to the statement, Russia will support Vietnam in the country’s efforts to build the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant, the first of its kind in Vietnam. A feasibility study is currently being made by Russia’s state-run nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom, as part of plans for the facility’s first and second nuclear units to be launched in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
The two sides agreed to boost negotiations on an inter-governmental agreement on constructing a nuclear science and technology centre in Vietnam. Russia has also committed to train Vietnamese nationals in the industry as well as help modernise Vietnam’s existing energy establishments and create new ones.
“With Russia’s assistance, a virtually new high-tech industry is being created in Vietnam, the nuclear industry. Our joint plans include not only building nuclear power plants, but also training Vietnamese nuclear scientists, as well as creating a centre for nuclear science and technology here in Vietnam,” Putin said at a briefing after his talks with State President Truong Tan Sang.
Vietnam and Russia also affirmed that they would continue to increase traditional bilateral co-operation on oil and gas projects in both countries. The new projects will be jointly deployed by PetroVietnam and Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Zarubezhneft.
Under the statement, PetroVietnam and Gazprom Neft will also be enabled to establish a joint venture to manage, operate, upgrade and expand Vietnam’s Dung Quat oil refinery in Quang Ngai province.
“Oil refining represents new ground for Russian-Vietnamese co-operation. We signed an agreement whereby Gazprom Neft will take part in modernising the Dung Quat oil refinery. Gazprom Neft will deliver oil to the refinery and participate in marketing the finished product. We also plan to organise deliveries of Russian liquefied natural gas to Vietnam,” Putin said.
Vietnam and Russia have long been partners in regard to the military and this is set to continue following Putin’s latest visit.
In the run-up to his visit, Putin spoke of defence agreements in his article named ‘The Russia-Vietnam: Together to New Co-operation Goals’: “Our military and technical co-operation has taken on a totally new dimension. It is no longer limited to export supplies, steps are being taken to launch in Vietnam licensed production of advanced military equipment with the assistance of Russian companies.”
Following his meeting with President Sang, the Russian president reiterated this point, “We spoke in detail about defence co-operation. We intend to expand the range of up-to-date products we supply to the Vietnamese army. As you saw, our defence departments signed a new inter-governmental agreement, which includes continuing assistance with personnel training for the Vietnamese army and navy.”
In an interview granted to the Itar Tass News Agency, Vietnam’s President Truong Tan Sang elaborated on continued military co-operation between the two states, and implied Vietnam’s ambition to increase arms sales. “In the near future, the countries should raise military co-operation to a higher plane, as in joint-venture production, in research, in setting up service centres and after-sales service as well as in exports to third countries.”
During his visit, President Putin also met with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
Leaders from the two sides also agreed to raise bilateral trade from $3.66 billion in 2012, to $7 billion by 2015 and $10 billion by 2020. To this end, the two sides pledged to speed up negotiations of the free trade agreement between the Vietnam and Russia – Belarus – Kazakhstan Customs Union, which is scheduled to be officially inked in early 2015.
Russia currently has 93 investment projects in Vietnam, with total registered capital of over $1.93 billion. Vietnam has 17 investment projects in Russia registered with $2.4 billion.
By Nguyen Thanh
Đăng ký: VietNam News
