Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Russia will continue to develop its comprehensive co-operation with Vietnam though it will withdraw from Vietnam's Cam Ranh sea port in January of 2002.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this to Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in Shanghai, China, on October 19.

The two leaders are in China to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting from October 20-21.

President Putin thanked the Vietnamese government and people for their special sentiments given to him during his Vietnam visit in March of this year. He said Vietnam and Russia have solid foundations to develop co-operation in economy, trade, and training, especially in the fields that Russia is strong in such as energy, oil and gas, hydro-electricity, and nuclear power, adding that Russia will do its best to create favourable conditions for the Vietnam-Russia oil and gas joint venture, Vietsovpetro, to operate effectively. He also agreed to assist Vietnam in its training of scientific workers and expressed his desire to boost co-operation at the Vietsovpetro, the Na Duong Power Plant, and the Da Lat Nuclear Power Plant.

President Putin asked Prime Minister Khai to convey his invitation to Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh to visit Russia.

For his part, Mr Khai said that the Vietnamese government and people appreciated the President's leadership which had helped Russia to become a more prosperous nation.

He stressed: "The Vietnamese people always treasure their fine relations with the Russian people."

He pointed to those co-operation projects that gained good results after President Putin's visit, including ones dealing with training, science and technology, and energy. Particularly, Vietnam has so far this year tapped 16 million tonnes of crude oil, to which the Vietsovpetro contributed most.

Prime Minister Khai said he wished the two countries would make more efforts to reach the two-way trade turnover as agreed upon.

Prime Minister Khai conveyed to President Putin the best regards and an invitation for a visit to Vietnam from Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and President Tran Duc Luong.

Prime Minister Khai and President Putin also exchanged views on other issues relating to co-operation between the two countries and among APEC countries, and international issues of common concern. (VNA)