Russia, Vietnam eye US$20bln trade by 2020
(VOV) - Russia and Vietnam have plenty of opportunity to raise bilateral trade turnover to US$20 billion by 2020, according to the Voice of Russia.
The radio service quoted Russian experts saying both counties need to adopt a new approach to economic, trade and investment cooperation, as traditional methods are no longer suitable in the current context.
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| Oil and gas exploration projects symbolise Vietnam-Russia cooperation (Photo:vietsovpetro) |
The experts said priority will be given to establishing free trade areas (FTAs) with Vietnam and developing new cooperation projects to balance both sides’ concerns and interests.
Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are currently conducting negotiations of a free trade agreement.
Evgeny Popov, Director of the Department of Asia and Africa under the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, said that the appraisal of these prioritised projects will be carried out along with FTA negotiations.
“We are planning to simultaneously sign FTA and investment agreements with the prioritised projects,” said Popov.
The radio service reported many big Russian companies are keen to invest in big projects in Vietnam.
Inter RAO, a Moscow-headquartered diversified energy holding company, is considering Vietnam’s proposal to build three thermal power electric plants. A Russian power generator manufacturer has agreed to supply equipment to these plants.
VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation wants to build a titanium powder plant, while Geopromining is interested in a project to modernise an ilmenite manufacturing factory in Vietnam.
Other Russian companies are engaging in the Dung Quat oil refinery expansion project.
Uralvagonzavod has proposed establishing a joint venture company in Vietnam to manufacture approximately 2,000 train carriages a year. The project was proposed after Vietnam had approved a large-scale rail transport plan.
According to the experts, Vietnamese companies also show their interest in Russian projects. The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) is teaming up with leading Russian companies to exploit oil and gas in the two countries’ territories, as well as in the third countries.
Other Vietnamese businesses want to establish joint venture companies in Russia, specialising in light industry, timber processing, and electronic appliances manufacturing.
At present Russian investment in Vietnam has amounted to US$4 billion, while Vietnamese investment in Russia remains modest, at US$500 million.