Moscow (VNA) –Vietnam, as the first country to sign a free trade agreement with the EurasianEconomic Union, and Russia may discuss any cooperation projects, both bilaterallyand multilaterally, said an official of the United Russia Party (ER).

Andrey Klimov, a member ofthe presidium of the ER General Council and Deputy Chair of the FederationCouncil Committee on Foreign Affairs, made the affirmation in an interview grantedto the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on the sidelines of a roundtable seminar forrepresentatives from mass media in Asia-Pacific in Vladivostok, Primoryeprovince, on July 12.

Lauding Vietnam’s role inthe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the official expressed hisbelief that in 2020 when Vietnam assumes the ASEAN Chairmanship, multilateralcooperation opportunities between Russia and ASEAN member countries will bediscussed at forums in Hanoi.

The roundtable seminar,which was initiated by the ER on the basis of its agreements with politicalparties in Asia, including the Communist Party of Vietnam, also saw theparticipation of senior Russian officials.

Grigory Kuranov, Deputy Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy inthe Far Eastern Federal District, stressed that President Vladimir Putin haspaid special attention to developing the Far East region.

Russia will open its doors and stands ready to directly provideofficial information in the fastest way for investors in the region, he said.

Deputy Minister for the Developmentof the Russian Far East, Sergey Tyrtsev, said the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia hasattracted more than 25 percent of foreign investments in Russia, and itsexport-import values grew 25 percent in 2018.

Forty federal laws and 167governmental legal documents have been adopted to create the most favourableconditions for investment activities in the region, he said, adding that localauthorities have also offered tax incentives and built necessary infrastructurein an effort to attract more investors.

Over the past five years,the region has implemented over 1,600 new projects worth 530 billion rubles(roughly 8.4 billion USD), creating about 37,000 jobs, he said.-VNA