From selling different kinds of products to large-scale joint projects – this is the main result of today’s negotiations held by Vladimir Putin in Hanoi.

Lately State Flags have been often changed on the flagstaffs of the Presidential Palace in Hanoi.

Visits of foreign leaders for APEC forum are following one by one. However, the Russian President’s official visit attracts exclusive attention. The Vietnamese have been very friendly to our country since Soviet times. Economic ties have always been at their best, too. In the 90s there was some decline in these ties. But for five years (since Vladimir Putin’s last visit to Vietnam) the turnover has increased dramatically and reached up to $1 billion.

The number of members of the Russian Delegation showed – Russia was planning to achieve success. Meetings with restricted attendance and enlarged negotiations have proved this. The parties have signed six agreements and according to Putin these agreements open grand prospects.

Vladimir Putin: “Speaking of investments, if projects are implemented, there will be invested billions of dollars in Vietnam’s economy”.

The most important agreements concern energy sector. According to Putin, the Declaration on further cooperation in geologic prospecting and oil and gas production will be extremely beneficial for both Parties. Mainly it concerns the strengthening of cooperation within the frame of the joint producing company Vietsovpetro. The company has already earned billions of dollars for the two countries.

Vladimir Putin: “Our cooperation in the energy sector deserves a few words in particular. The undisputed leader in this area is the joint venture, Vietsovpetro. You were present today at the ceremony awarding state decorations to a number of this company’s personnel from both Vietnam and Russia. I think they all deserve the highest praise. Given the success this company has had so far, I think it would be useful and mutually beneficial for it to continue its activities even once the current agreement expires. This is precisely the decision set out in the joint declaration on continued cooperation in geological prospecting and oil and gas production that we have just signed today.

But our cooperation in the energy sector does not end here. Russian companies are actively involved in modernizing and building energy facilities in Vietnam. We are ready not only to continue this kind of cooperation but also to expand it, including in the nuclear energy sector”.

The strengthening of business ties is hardly possible without close bank contacts. Yesterday the Presidents of the two countries attended the opening ceremony of the Russian-Vietnamese Bank. Today Russian Central Bank and Sberbank have signed two more agreements on cooperation. It seems that other banks are going to follow them too.

Vietnam with its unique national character, thousand-year temples, specific cuisine and excellent beaches can compete with its neighbors in tourists’ popularity. Thus, the program of tourism development adopted by the Parties turned to be very timely.

Having just come to Vietnam three days ago, Putin said he was confident of the effectiveness of the visit. Now we can say with no doubt that this confidence has proved to be true. Still, all the decisions made in Hanoi – are just the ground for expanding cooperation on the market basis prepared by politics. Now it’s time for businessmen to act.