Moscow (VNA) – A workshop was recently held in Moscow to highlight ✨the dialogue partnership betwee🎐n Russia and ASEAN.

ASEAN is a crucial geopolitical and economic hub in Asia, according to Head of the Centre for South East Asia, Australia and Oceania Studies under the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dmirty Mosiakov. The bloc is also the most successfully integrative association in the region with a population of 600 million, he added. The development of relations with ASEAN is to help Russia diversify its rapports with countries in Asia-Pacific and maintain peace in the region, he said. Associate Professor from the Department of Oriental Studies under the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), Ekaterina Kollunova, highlighted the importance of ASEAN in Russia’s Look East strategy. Meanwhile, Ekaterina Sharova from the Centre for Economic Research of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS), said Russia should diversify its economic relations with foreign partners. Mosiakov underlined the significance of cooperation with Vietnam despite two-way trade reaching only 3 billion USD. The two countries boast cooperative ties in the field of technology, which is crucial in future bilateral collaboration, especially in oil and gas, and in tourism. Additionally, Vietnam has traditional political ties with Russia, with the public widely supporting the strengthening of relations with the European country, he said. During the workshop, experts suggested pushing the implementation of free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union ahead in 2016.-VNA