Moscow (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has suggested deeper links in eওconomics, trade, culture, and tourism between Vietnamese localities and their Russian counterparts, including Saint-🦂Petersburg.

At a meeting with Mayor of Saint-Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko on September 20 as part of his ongoing visit to Russia, the official said that t he Vietnamese Government will create favourable conditions for Russian investors to operate in Vietnam. He highlighted close ties between the two countries’ ministries, sectors and localities, saying that this reflects the strong Vietnam-Russia relations. Bilateral cooperation should promote sustainable development, he stressed, noting that investment and trade links between the two counties will be enhanced when the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union takes effect on October 5. Both nations need to accelerate the implementation of existing commitments and promote new cooperation schemes, he said. The Deputy PM suggested the Saint-Petersburg leader make it easy for Vietnamese goods and service suppliers to make inroads into Russia’s second largest city through Made-in-Vietnam goods fairs in the country. Mayor Poltavchenko said Saint-Petersburg welcomes Vietnam’s investment projects. He committed to arranging meetings between representatives from Vietnamese firms and the city’s retailers to foster partnerships among them. Vietnamese businesses can introduce their commodities to Russian customers at the annual Christmas fair in Saint-Petersburg, he said, adding that Vietnamese firms should take advantage of the fact that western countries are imposing sanctions against Russia to enter the Russian market. During his stay, Deputy PM Dung will attend the 19 th meeting of the Vietnam - Russia Intergovernmental Committee in Saint-Petersburg on September 21. In the first seven months of this year, two-way trade between Vietnam and Russia hit 1.6 billion USD, up 3 percent year-on-year.-VNA