Russia wants to more than treble the value of business with Vietnam as the two countries work towards a free trade agreement, Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev said Wednesday during a trip to Hanoi.
“We are pleased with the rapid increase in bilateral trade. Both countries are looking develop it further,” Medvedev said.
He added that he wanted two-way trade to rise to $7.0 billion by 2015 from about $2.12 billion last year.
The two countries have begun preparations for a free trade agreement, he added during a one-day stop in Hanoi following a regional Asia-Europe meeting in neighbouring Laos.
“We discussed important projects including the construction of Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant and oil cooperation regarding joint-venture Vietsovpetro,” said Medvedev, who was last in Vietnam in 2010 when president.
That year, Moscow and Hanoi signed a deal to construct the first nuclear power plant — with two reactors — in Vietnam. The project is expected to cost more than four billion euros ($5.1 billion).
This summer the two countries also signed an agreement to develop their “strategic partnership” during a visit by Vietnam’s president Truong Tan Sang to Russia.
In recent years Moscow has announced contracts worth billions of dollars to sell 20 Soukhoi fighter jets and six submarines to Vietnam.
Russia and Vietnam have a long history of cooperation. After the Vietnam War ended in 1975 the Soviet Union supplied its Communist ally with vital aid and arms, while they maintained close ties even after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Vietnam is one of the world’s last remaining communist countries, but it has embraced a market economy, along with Asian and Western investment over the past two decades.
Russia's Medvedev eyes more trade with Vietnam
