On December 7, 2017 a high-ranking delegation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam visited St. Petersburg.
Politburo member of the Communist party of Vietnam (CPV) and a regular member of the Secretariat of the CPV Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Auditing Commission of the CPV Central Committee of the XII convocation Tran Quoc Vuong led a delegation.
During the visit, the delegation held talks with acting Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Govorunov, representatives of the Committee on external relations of St. Petersburg and members of the scientific community of the city.
During the meeting in Smolny, acting Governor Alexander Govorunov and head of the Vietnamese delegation Chang Kuok Wyong discussed the prospects for the development of bilateral relations. Tourism was named as a priority area because of annual growth of tourist flow. The interest of the parties is mutual.
Under these conditions, it is necessary to define new formats of cooperation between tour operators, as well as consider the possibility of organizing direct flights from the Northern capital to various regions of Vietnam.
Alexander Govorunov confirmed St. Petersburg's intention to continue the implementation of joint projects in the field of civil shipbuilding, port infrastructure development, mechanical engineering. St. Petersburg pharmaceutical companies are interested both in entering the market and in localization of production of final medicines in Vietnam.
Tran Quoc Vuong stressed that Vietnam is also an important expansion of contacts to small and medium businesses and the study of the experience of St. Petersburg to provide the population with clean water. Among the prospect areas for cooperation is the exchange of experience on combating corruption and reducing administrative barriers.
On the meeting, it was also discussed the intensification of cooperation in the field of education and training. Today, about a thousand Vietnamese students study in Russia, and almost a third of them get a profession in St. Petersburg. "This is a big help for the country's development at the modern stage," said Tran Quoc Vuong.
Cooperation issues at the level of regional cooperation were discussed during the working meetings of the delegation members representing the leadership of Ho Chi Minh city and Khanh Hoa province, with the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on foreign relations of St. Petersburg V. G. Kalganov and A. A. Abubakarov. During the meetings, the parties discussed ways to intensify trade, scientific and industrial ties. An agreement was reached to organize visits of representatives of these two regions of Vietnam to St. Petersburg in the spring of 2018. It was decided to work out the possibility of signing "road maps" with particular events to promote cooperation.
The meeting participants separately discussed the activities that are planned to be held in celebration of the 95th anniversary of the first visit to Petrograd Ho Chi Minh (in those days he was named Nguyen AI Kuok). It is expected that the memorable event will be celebrated in both countries on June 30, 2018.
In addition, in the framework of the visit Tran Quoc, Vuong visited the Institute of Ho Chi Minh, where he met with the head of the Institute Professor V. N. Molotovym. During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of scientific and cultural cooperation. As noted by the head of the Vietnamese delegation, "the Heritage of Ho Chi Minh is an impetus for the rapprochement of the Russian and Vietnamese peoples."
As part of the cultural program of the visit, the delegation visited the cruiser Aurora, the Smolny state historical and memorial Museum and the state Hermitage Museum.