Deputy PM Hung received ITAR-TASS first Deputy Director General, M.V. Kalmykov, in Hanoi on April 3. He welcomed the ITAR-TASS delegation on a working visit to Vietnam to strengthen the long-term cooperation between the two news agencies and said that the traditional Vietnamese-Russian relations have been fostered by many generations and further promoted in the recent past through meetings of the two countries' leaders.

The Deputy PM said he believes that the two news agencies' cooperation will further develop in the coming period and that the two agencies will serve as a bridge between businesses of the two countries to promote bilateral economic cooperation.

Kalmykov, an ITAR-TASS correspondent in Vietnam in the 1980s, said that he was strongly impressed by Vietnam's great achievements after 20 years away from the country. ITAR-TASS considers itself as Vietnam's friend and hopes for further cooperation with the Vietnam News Agency.