Vietnam and 'Russia'; Vietnam didn't get the memo on communism's death, did they?

[Avvakum]

Interesting story, i'm certain that what with the fall of communism, Communist Vietnam has forgotten all about getting back at the United States for all those years of struggle;

government
Last update 14:19 | 17/10/2013
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Vietnam, Russia prepare for President Putin’s Hanoi visit
VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam and Russia need to deepen their comprehensive, strategic co-operation partnership, President Truong Tan Sang said yesterday, Oct 16.

President Truong Tan Sang (right) receives Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov yesterday in Ha Noi.

The President was receiving Russian First Deputy PM Igor Shuvalov, who arrived in Viet Nam to attend the 16th session of the Viet Nam-Russia Inter-governmental Committee for Economic, Commercial, Scientific and Technological Co-operation that held earlier yesterday.
He also participated in the first Viet Nam-Russia Economic Forum in the capital the same day.
Shuvalov informed his host that the sub-committees of the two countries had worked closely to ease difficulties barring implementation of several projects and established working groups on employment, migration and infrastructure construction.
Russia is committed to providing credits for atomic energy complex projects and helping Viet Nam attract foreign investment, said Shuvalov.
He noted bilateral economic and trade ties had progressed in recent years, but had yet to meet potential, unlike political ties which had truly blossomed.
Successful negotiation of a free trade agreement between the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and Viet Nam and the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union would help foster economic ties between the two countries and two regions, he said.
Sang agreed with Shuvalov's view that with their growing trade ties, both countries should increase bilateral investment co-operation in key areas such as oil and gas exploration, shipbuilding and repairs and military technology.
He proposed Viet Nam and Russia re-examine signed agreements for amendments to finalise a legal corridor for stronger investment and business co-operation.
He also proposed relevant agencies of the two countries make careful, detailed plans for President Putin's upcoming visit to Viet Nam.
Viet Nam-Russia
At the 16th session of the Viet Nam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee for Economic, Commercial, Scientific and Technological Co-operation, the two sides reviewed bilateral co-operation and agreed on measures to strengthen and foster the Viet Nam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership in the coming time.
They expressed delight at the implementation of the resolutions of the committee's 15th session, held in Russia last October, and highlighted strengthened political ties and effective economic and humanitarian co-operation.
While the two sides, headed by Vietnamese Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai and Russian First Deputy PM Igor Shuvalov, acknowledged positive developments in bilateral trade, they noted that it had yet to reach potential given the scale of the two economies.
They stressed the need for breakthrough measures, including the early signing of a free trade agreement between Viet Nam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and a decision on priority investment projects within the framework of the high-level joint working group headed by Viet Nam's Minister of Industry and Trade and Russia's Minister of Economic Development.
In particular, the two Deputy Prime Ministers emphasised energy co-operation as one of the key co-operation fields of strategic importance to the two countries' ties as well as each country's economic development.
The two sides highly valued the close co-operation between the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Russia's Zarubezhneft, Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil groups in expanding oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities in Viet Nam's continental shelf and in Russia.
They agreed that besides existing joint ventures like Vietsovpetro, Rusvietpetro, Gazpromviet and Vietgazprom, the two sides should consider establishing new ones to implement more co-operation projects.
The two sides also affirmed that nuclear energy was one of the priorities of bilateral co-operation and expressed satisfaction at the implementation of the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant project.
In the time to come, Viet Nam would continue to work on completing a legal foundation for nuclear power development, Hai said.
He asked Russia to help with human resources training in atomic energy so that in the long run, Viet Nam could manage and run a nuclear power plant safely by itself.
The two sides noted that industry, including manufacturing engineering, metallurgy, coal mining, shipbuilding and electricity, was another priority of bilateral co-operation.
They encouraged the establishment of joint shipbuilding ventures that would make use of Viet Nam's existing shipyards and Russia's designs, technology and technical equipment.
The leaders agreed the joint working group on light industry should carry out research and propose policies and mechanisms to encourage investment in this field.
The two sides also agreed on measures to bolster ties in finance, banking, agriculture, telecommunications, science-technology and education and training.
The next session of the inter-governmental committee will be held in Moscow in 2014.
Source: VNS

[Avvakum]

A related story, (side comment-why aren't people worried about Vietnam and are about North Korea?);

Vietnam presses ahead with ambitious nuclear plans

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October 17, 2013
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HANOI--Vietnam is pressing ahead with Southeast Asia's most ambitious civilian nuclear energy program despite safety fears over the technology following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Foreign companies and governments are competing to get a toehold in an industry that could be worth $50 billion by 2030, according to estimates by U.S. officials.
Those plans received a boost last week with the announcement that the United States and Vietnam had signed an agreement allowing U.S. firms to develop civilian nuclear power here. Once President Barack Obama and top U.S. energy officials sign the so-called "123 agreement," Congress will have 90 days to either challenge it or let it take effect.
Facing an energy crunch after years of underinvestment and artificially low consumer electricity prices, Vietnam is planning to build seven nuclear plants in the coming years.
"Vietnam has the second-largest market, after China, for nuclear power in East Asia, and our companies can now compete," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last week after inking the agreement in Brunei with Vietnam's Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung.
But in a sign of potential difficulties to come, the planned construction start date for the first two plants has been delayed by three years, from 2014 to 2017, said Vuong Huu Tan, head of Vietnam's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Agency, in a recent interview.
Japan's nuclear disaster also overhangs the plans. All of the country's nuclear plants are shuttered as it grapples with the aftermath of the March 2011 tsunami that caused a triple meltdown at the coastal Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
A 2011 study by three scientists from Italian research institutions said historical precedent suggests Vietnam's coastline is potentially vulnerable to earthquake-generated tsunamis originating farther east in the South China Sea. Their simulation map suggests Ninh Thuan--the central province where the first reactor is slated to be built--and a few nearby provinces are among the most vulnerable to wave impact.
But Tan, the Hanoi-based nuclear official, said safety is a high priority and Vietnam's plants will be built to international standards. "We need to have nuclear power plants to ensure the supply of energy for our country," he said. "Other energy sources are not sufficient."
One possible reason Vietnam has not wavered from its plans to build coastal nuclear plants is that it can proceed without worrying much about public opinion. The ruling communist party controls the domestic media and bans any critical discussion about government activities.
This contrasts with Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, where plans for civilian nuclear plants have met protests, said Kevin Punzalan, a researcher at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde in the Philippines who has surveyed plans for nuclear energy development across Southeast Asia.
Vietnam badly needs to develop new power sources because its domestic coal and hydropower production is leveling off. The country is set to be a net energy importer by 2015. The Asian Development Bank has said domestic electricity demand may rise by up to 14 percent per year until 2015 and plateau at 11 percent until 2020, fueled by a rising middle class that demands air conditioning and other energy-intensive creature comforts.
Vietnam's 2011 power-grid master plan called for vast increases in energy production through 2030, but analysts say the government struggles to attract venture capital for new power plants partly because it keeps power prices below market rates, reducing incentives for potential investors.
And the electricity sector is dominated by an inefficient, debt-ridden state-owned electrical company and its subsidiaries--a clunky system that discourages competition.
Nuclear power, however, remains front and center on Vietnam's energy agenda.
Vuong Huu Tan said Vietnamese university graduates are now training in Russia and Japan to become nuclear technicians. And the International Atomic Energy Agency said in January that Vietnam's plan to build two plants amid salt flats on Vietnam's central coast were in "active preparation."
Although no plants are under construction, Russian and Japanese investors are in the lead, with one project each, according to Tan. An office in the science and technology ministry is papered with topographical maps--some in Russian or Japanese--of the proposed Ninh Thuan province sites.
South Korean and American firms are nipping at their competitors' heels.
In May, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi hosted a delegation of American energy company executives, and invited senior Vietnamese officials to a plush hotel ballroom for a conference and networking session.
Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez told the guests the U.S. has the world's largest fleet of civilian nuclear power plants. "American businesses have obviously played a big role in that growth, and they are ready to do the same thing here," he said.
The new 123 agreement would require Vietnam to buy nuclear fuel on the international market, rather than enrich its own uranium.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

[Avvakum]

Found this article interesting, and it's timely since Pres. Putin of 'Russia' will visit Vietnam November 12th;




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VN, Russia to step up defense cooperation
Tuoitrenews
Updated : 08/09/2013 15:27 GMT + 7
VNA"> The welcome ceremony for Defense Minister General Phung Quang Thanh in Moscow, Russia on August 7, 2013
VNA
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Vietnam’s Defense Minister General Phung Quang Thanh and his Russian counterpart General Shoigu Sergei Kuzugetovich have agreed that effective defense cooperation will help strengthen mutual understanding and promote bilateral ties.

The two Ministers made the agreement during their talks in Moscow on August 7, following a ceremony held to welcome Minister Thanh and his entourage in an official friendship visit to Russia.
Minister Thanh told his Russian counterpart that defense cooperation plays an important role in the two countries' relations, and that his visit aims to boost that cooperation to for the sake of peace, stability in the region and the world.
To this end, Thanh said, the two countries need to deepen their defense cooperation, making it more productive and sustainable and close to each side’s real demands in conformity with the signed agreement, he said.
He affirmed that effective defense cooperation is needed to reinforce bilateral traditional friendship and relations within the mutually beneficial strategic partnership to provide a peaceful and stable environment for national development.

The Minister also emphasized that the bilateral cooperation needs to conform to multilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus.

In reply, Minister Shoigu Sergei Kuzegetovich said Russia highly values its traditional friendship with Vietnam and stressed that Russia always considers Vietnam as its strategic partnership.

The Russian minister also said he highly appreciates the achievements made by Vietnamese people and army in the past years.
He affirmed that Russia will strengthen and expand cooperation with Vietnam in navy, military technologies and personnel training, adding that Russia will create most favorable conditions for cooperation in these fields.
After their talks, the two ministers witnessed the signing of a bilateral training cooperation plan between the two countries’ Defense Ministries.