The meeting was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung and his Russian counterpart Maxim Akimov.

The two sides vowed to implement high-level agreements reached during the official visit to Russia by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last May.

They highly valued the dynamic development of the bilateral economic, trade and investment ties over the recent past, with two-way trade reaching US$4.5 billion in 2018, up nearly 30% as compared with 2017, making Vietnam the biggest trade partner of Russia in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

They shared the views that investment cooperation has been expanded as more and more Vietnamese and Russian businesses have invested in major projects in the two countries, operating in such areas as agriculture, energy and transport.

However, trade collaboration has yet to match potential of both sides, they pointed out, suggesting Vietnamese and Russian governments, ministries and agencies take drastic measures to enhance commercial cooperation.

The two Deputy PMs concurred to consider removing non-tariff barriers in trade, especially those related to agricultural products, seafood, garments-textiles and footwear.

In the oil and gas sphere, Deputy PM Dung said Vietnam always welcomes and creates favourable conditions for Russian companies to increase their presence and carry out oil and gas exploration and exploitation projects in Vietnam’s continental shelf.

On his part, Deputy PM Akimov affirmed Russia’s continued support for Russian oil and gas firms to expand cooperation with their Vietnamese partners, including partnerships in other realms like liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas-fuelled electricity.

The two sides also lauded initial results of bilateral collaboration in e-Government and smart city building, and agreed to push ahead with a joint project on the construction of a research centre for science and nuclear technology in Vietnam.

At the end of the session, the Deputy PMs witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements in the banking sector, and attended a ceremony introducing transactions using Russia’s MIR cards in Vietnam.

On this occasion, Deputy PM Dung and his Russian counterpart attended and delivered speeches at the 2019 Vietnam-Russia Business Dialogue jointly held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Russian council of entrepreneurs.