RUSSIAN-VIETNAMESE TRADE AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION








HANOI, March 1, 2001. /From RIA Novosti special correspondent Marianna Shatikhina/--Russia and Vietnam have agreed to give a new incentive to the work of the Russian-Vietnamese Intergovernmental Commission, reported Russian President Vladimir Putin at today's press conference in Hanoi.


	Putin, who noted that the two countries have practically no political differences, said talks mostly focused on unused reserves in the trade and economic sphere. According to the Russian president, it is far from reassuring that commercial exchange between Russia and Vietnam remained at the same level throughout the year 2000 despite the fact that both countries achieved a substantial economic advance.


	Putin named manpower potential as one of the reserves that required closer cooperation. Many Vietnamese used to study in the Soviet Union and in Russia and have a good command of the Russian language, he recalled. "We must not forget this great potential. We have to support it," he said.


	According to Putin, presidents of the two countries have agreed to do what they can to streamline economic cooperation, where energy is of course not the only sphere that presents good opportunities. The same goes for the agroindustrial complex, mechanical engineering, ship-building, high technologies and space exploration. Besides, Vietnam may turn out an attractive place for Russian tourists, believes the president.


	Closing the subject, Putin also mentioned the importance of expanding cooperation between two countries' regions.