Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Russia: Deepening comprehensive strategic partnership with long-term and sustainable vision
WVR - Ahead of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to the Russian Federation, March 22-25, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi shared with the World and Vietnam Report the significance and focus of this important visit.
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| Special Envoy of General Secretary To Lam, Politburo Member, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung meets with Russian President V. Putin, February 24. (Source: Kremlin.ru) |
Ambassador, could you share the importance of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Russia at this time, especially as Vietnam has just successfully conducted two major political events, setting directions for a new development phase?
The visit takes place in a special context, as we have just successfully organized the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the election of the new National Assembly. It can be said that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit occurs during a very significant political period for Vietnam. Our entire nation, the Party, and the Government have set development plans to transform Vietnam into a high-income developed country by 2030 and 2045.
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| Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi. |
Most importantly, the entire Party, military, and people are determined to promote stronger economic development, but international support, including from Russia, is indispensable. Over the years, Russia has been a reliable and sincere partner of Vietnam. In recent years, the bilateral relationship has been very robust. For instance, right after the Party Congress, President Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader to call and congratulate General Secretary To Lam, discussing major directions for the development of bilateral relations.
For the first time in many years, we sent a special envoy of the General Secretary, Politburo Member, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, to announce the results of the Party Congress and to conduct a highly successful visit. Thus, this visit holds significant importance. On one hand, it aims to strengthen the bilateral relationship. On the other, it seeks to further international cooperation opportunities, such as with Russia, to support Vietnam's development in the coming period.
In this context, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit is the first high-level state visit to Russia following the successful organization of the 14th National Party Congress. The visit marks the beginning of a series of important events and high-level meetings in 2026. The main focus of the visit is to strengthen the Vietnam-Russia relationship, especially in political relations, as we have seen frequent meetings and discussions on major issues recently.
The visit also aims to expand cooperation with Russia in economic and trade sectors, particularly in investment, energy, and oil and gas. The visit occurs amid a severe global energy crisis, so I believe this visit will open up major directions for both countries.
Based on this, could the Ambassador share the main topics that the high-level leaders of both countries will focus on during the visit?
Regarding the main focuses of the visit, I would like to emphasize, firstly, through this visit, both sides will further strengthen political contacts. From my personal experience and recent practices of the two countries, the meetings between the leaders of the two countries are of utmost importance, not only to review bilateral relations but also to set major development directions for 2026 and beyond.
Secondly, we continue to enhance the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia in security, defense, and foreign affairs. Both countries consider each other important partners, supporting each other at international and regional forums, contributing to a peaceful environment for domestic development.
Thirdly, in economic and trade matters, all high-level visits aim to enhance and make bilateral cooperation more effective and substantial.
During the meeting with President V. Putin on February 25, Special Envoy of General Secretary To Lam, Politburo Member, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung affirmed the desire to strengthen cooperation with Russia in key areas such as nuclear energy, oil and gas, maritime cooperation, science and technology... Could the Ambassador elaborate on how these pillars of cooperation will be implemented during the visit?
During this visit, both sides are expected to sign a series of important agreements related to nuclear power plant projects, energy, and oil and gas cooperation. We will consider Russia a strategic partner ensuring Vietnam's energy security. Oil and gas energy cooperation will be further strengthened and deepened, not only in trade but also in exploration, extraction, and personnel training.
Nuclear energy will open new horizons in energy cooperation. This includes not only nuclear power but also the nuclear industry, which Russia is ready to support in developing, with prospects for using nuclear energy for non-energy purposes in medicine and agriculture.
The next area is cooperation in infrastructure construction, science and technology, education and training, culture, and arts. We all know that Russia has extensive experience in infrastructure construction, especially in subway and metro systems. In this program, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will visit important projects related to the subway system, where both sides will discuss enhancing cooperation. We will learn from Russia's experience to develop Vietnam's subway system.
Despite difficulties, Russia continues to maintain its position as a powerhouse in science and technology. We need to leverage Russia's strengths in nuclear, new materials, aerospace technology, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biotechnology...
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| The 2025 Vietnam Cultural Festival opens at Red Square - the center of Russia and Moscow with the participation of the wife of General Secretary Ngo Phuong Ly, July 25. (Photo: Hoang Hong) |
The year 2026 has been announced as the Year of Science and Education between Russia and Vietnam. Could the Ambassador share the prospects for bilateral cooperation in these fields?
The year 2026 has been chosen by both countries as the Vietnam-Russia Year of Science and Education. Successfully organizing this activity will create new momentum for promoting scientific and educational cooperation, paving the way for the following years.
Russia is a leading partner in education and training. Vietnam will send more students to study in Russia across all fields needed by Vietnam, especially in science, technology, and even cultural and artistic fields.
Recently, I am very pleased to see that cooperation between educational institutions of both sides is very close. The number of Vietnamese candidates applying to study in Russia is increasing. In 2025, over 3,500 applicants applied for 1,000 scholarships, indicating growing interest. In literature, arts, and people-to-people exchanges, last year, we successfully organized the first Vietnam cultural festival at Red Square, with the honor of having the participation of the wife of General Secretary Ngo Phuong Ly. In just 10 days, it attracted nearly 1 million Russian and international visitors.
After this activity, the number of tourists from Russia and Vietnam increased significantly. In 2025, there were 690,000 tourist arrivals, nearly double that of 2024. In the first two months of this year, it has surpassed 240,000. I hope that this year, the number of Russian tourists to Vietnam will exceed 1 million.
Russia is facing a severe labor shortage, while Vietnam has an abundant labor force. The potential is great, but appropriate investment is needed to effectively exploit it: investing in tourism infrastructure, promoting tourism; in high-quality labor that Russia increasingly demands; and promoting the establishment of a legal framework to send organized labor to work in Russia. The transport-logistics sector also has great potential for expanding cooperation.
All these directions need to be combined to elevate bilateral cooperation, not only achieving high efficiency but also ensuring sustainable and long-term cooperation. Only then can we truly deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and Russia.
Thus, this visit by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will significantly promote cooperation in various fields: politics, security, defense, foreign affairs, economy, trade, and people-to-people exchanges, science and technology, and education and training – it can be said to be comprehensive, addressing both long-term vision issues and pressing issues of the current period, such as energy security.
Thank you, Ambassador!
