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| Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi__Photo: VNA |
Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi underscored the significance of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s upcoming visit to Russia from March 22-25 during an interview recently granted to the Vietnam News Agency.
Khoi said the trip comes at a pivotal juncture, shortly after Vietnam successfully organised the 14th National Party Congress and the election of deputies to the new National Assembly. The entire country, Party and Government have outlined development plans to achieve developed, high-income status, with clear goals set for 2030 and 2045.
Most importantly, while the whole Party, army and people are determined to boost stronger economic growth, Vietnam still relies on support from international friends, including Russia. For many years, Russia has been a sincere and reliable partner of Vietnam. Immediately following the Party Congress, Russian President Vladimir Putin became the first foreign leader to call and congratulate Party General Secretary To Lam, with the two discussing key directions for bilateral ties.
For the first time in years, Vietnam sent Politburo member and Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung as a special envoy of the Party General Secretary to brief the Russian side on the Congress outcomes. Khoi described the visit as highly significant since it will consolidate the bilateral relationship while capitalising on international partnership opportunities, including with Russia, to support Vietnam’s development trajectory in the years ahead.
According to him, the visit will open up a series of important events and high-level meetings in 2026. Its main focus is to further bolster Vietnam–Russia relations, especially in politics, as recent contacts have been frequent and addressed a broad range of strategic issues.
The visit is also expected to expand economic and trade cooperation, with a particular emphasis on investment, energy, and oil and gas. It arrives amid a severe global energy crisis, which Khoi said positions the trip to open major new avenues for both countries.
In his view, the visit will deepen political engagement. Meetings between the two countries’ leaders will play a critical role in reviewing the state of ties and charting major directions for 2026 and beyond.
Vietnam and Russia will continue to solidify their comprehensive strategic partnership in national defence - security and foreign affairs. Each views the other as a vital partner and provides mutual support at international and regional forums, thereby contributing to a peaceful environment conducive to domestic development.
On economic and trade sphere, high-level visits consistently aim to make bilateral ties more practical and results-oriented.
Khoi revealed that a series of important agreements are anticipated, covering the nuclear power plant project as well as broader energy and oil-and-gas collaboration. Vietnam will regard Russia as a strategic partner in ensuring its energy security. Cooperation in these sectors will intensify, extending beyond trade to include exploration, production, and workforce training.
Infrastructure development, along with sci-tech, education - training, culture, and arts, represent additional priorities. Russia boasts substantial expertise in large-scale infrastructure, particularly metro and underground rail systems. During the visit, PM Chinh is scheduled to tour key metro-related projects where the two sides are actively exploring stronger cooperation. Vietnam intends to leverage Russian experience to advance its own urban rail networks.
As Russia is one of Vietnam’s top partners in education and training, Vietnam will send more students to study there, focusing on priority fields such as sci-tech, culture, and arts.
Khoi expressed delight at the growing closeness between educational establishments in both countries. Applications from Vietnamese students to study in Russia have risen steadily. Last year, more than 3,500 candidates vied for 1,000 scholarships, signaling strong and sustained interest. In the cultural sphere, 2025 saw the first-ever Vietnamese cultural festival on Moscow’s Red Square, attended by Ngo Phuong Ly, spouse of Party General Secretary To Lam. Over 10 days, the event drew nearly 1 million Russian and foreign visitors.
Tourist flows have surged in response. In 2025, nearly 690,000 Russians visited Vietnam, almost double the 2024 total. In the first two months of 2026 alone, arrivals exceeded 240,000. Khoi expressed optimism that Russian tourist number to Vietnam could surpass 1 million this year.
Overall, he said the PM’s visit is poised to remarkably advance cooperation across politics, national defence - security, foreign affairs, economy, trade, people-to-people exchanges, sci-tech, and education - training. In that sense, it can be described as a comprehensive visit, addressing both long-term matters and those of immediate concern, such as energy security, he added.- (VNA/VLLF)
