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Vladimir Putin held talks with President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Truong Tan Sang in Sochi.
Developing trade and economic relations between the two countries was one of the main subjects on the agenda.
Following the talks, Mr Putin and Mr Truong issued a joint statement on strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Vietnam and also witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral agreements.
The two presidents later made press statements.
* * *
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, friends,
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to Russia. Welcome!
There is no need for me to describe the nature of our bilateral relations. Our countries’ ties have deep roots and our peoples feel strong mutual warmth for each other, which help us in developing our relations today.
We are steadily developing our relations in all different areas. Our bilateral trade has reached $3 billion. I was even surprised to see, looking through the reference information, that our trade has already posted an increase of 55 percent over the first half of this year. We have big projects, really good projects, which are truly important for both countries. In short, we have very broad cooperation.
We are most pleased to see you. Welcome! We have plenty to discuss.
President of Vietnam Truong Tan Sang (retranslated): Mr President, friends,
First of all, I want to thank you and our Russian friends for the warm and fraternal welcome our delegation has received. Your choice of Sochi as the venue for this meeting is eminently fitting in this respect.
On behalf of the entire Vietnamese leadership, I want to congratulate you once more on your election as President of the Russian Federation. Before I left for Russia, all of the members of our Politburo asked me to pass on their best wishes. We wish you good health and success in your work.
We are really pleased to see the development in the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia. I am sure that this visit will give a boost to further strengthening our ties.
In the interests of taking our relations further, I would like to discuss the following matters with you today.
On behalf of our country’s leadership, I want to reaffirm that Russia is one of our most important partners and one of our top foreign policy priorities.
We welcome and fully agree with the Russian leadership’s initiative to take our relations to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership.
Above all today, I want to discuss with you bilateral economic development and trade cooperation.
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July 27, 2012, Sochi