Russia was the 17th largest investor in Vietnam as of late June with 107 projects worth nearly 2 billion USD, as heard at a September 23 press conference in Hanoi on bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Russian investors were active in 13 of Vietnam’s 21 economic sectors and in 24 cities and provinces nationwide, predominantly in processing and engineering with 35 projects. The two nations have facilitated trade promotion via visits, fairs and exhibitions. From 2012-2014, bilateral economic and trade engagements thrived in diversified forms, acting Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department for European Market Duong Hoang Minh told the conference. In the foreseeable future, Vietnam and Russia will continue stepping up projects in the light industry, energy and mining while facilitating more business forums and exhibitions to bring high-quality Vietnamese goods to Russia. Chief Representative of the Russian Trade Office in Vietnam Maxim Golikov said Vietnam is a major partner of Russia among the Southeast Asian nations. Last year, Vietnam was Russia’s third largest ASEAN trade partner, making up 26 percent of the total ASEAN exports to the Eurasian nation. In the first half of this year, Vietnam’s trade surplus with Russia topped 120 million USD. Golikov added that Russia plans to increase its financial assistance for strategic partners, including Vietnam. Large-scale Russian projects in Vietnam are currently run by Power Machines, Rosatom, Rosneft, Zarubezhneft and Inter RAO, among others. Apart from oil and gas, nuclear and thermo-power energy cooperation, the two countries are due to strengthen collaboration across the automobile, aviation, machinery, foodstuff, aquaculture, and apparel and footwear sectors. Russian firms have also assisted Vietnam in personnel training, education, science, healthcare, sports and humanitarian activities through private or public-private partnership models. According to the Federal Customs Service of Russia, trade between the two nations last year surpassed 3.74 billion USD, up 94 percent from 2013. During the year, Russia mostly imported machinery (47 percent), apparel and footwear (25 percent), foodstuff and farm produce materials from Vietnam and exported machinery (65 percent), metal and metal products, fertiliser and oil and gas.-VNA