First Vice Chairman of the Russia - Vietnam Friendship Association Piotr Tsvetov, who is also an associate professor at the international relations faculty of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, grants an interview to the Vietnam News Agency. (Photo: VNA) Talking to the Vietnam News Agency, he offered his sympathieson the death of Khoan to the bereaved family and the Vietnamese people.
He recalled in the 1980s, the prime period of relationsbetween the Soviet Union and Vietnam, he used to meet Khoan many times, who was then Minister Counsellor of the Vietnamese Embassy inMoscow, when the latter often came to the International Department of the Communist Party of the Soviet UnionCentral Committee to prepare for working visits by leaders of Vietnam.
Tsvetov said Khoan grasped the direction of bilateral tiesand confidently and effectively handled issues emerging.
While working at the Vietnamese Embassy in Moscow, Khoan usedto work as an interpreter for Vietnamese Party General Secretary Le Duan andChairman of the Council of Ministers Pham Van Dong at their meetings with Partyand State leaders of the Soviet Union. Earlier, he had also interpreted forPresident Ho Chi Minh during the leader’s exchanges with people of the SovietUnion.
It could be said that Khoan made important contributions tothe friendship between the Soviet Union and Vietnam, Tsvetov went on.
Later, Tsvetov also had more occasions to meet Khoan when he worked in Vietnam as a reporter of the Pravda (Truth) newspaper.
He held that Vietnamese leaders were right when assigningKhoan with the task of promoting Vietnam’s integration into the world.
In an article published on the “Asia and Africa today” magazine, the FirstVice Chairman of the Russia - Vietnam Friendship Association used to call VuKhoan an “architecture” of Vietnam’s “Doi moi” (Renewal) who were knowledgeableabout the issue.
With his diplomatic capacity, Khoan helped Vietnam establishits stature, enter the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and theWorld Trade Organisation (WTO), and then sign a bilateral trade agreement withthe US, which were events creating favourable conditions for Vietnam to develop,according to Tsvetov.
Vu Khoan, born on October 7, 1937, passed away on June 21after a period of illness.
He was a member of the Party Central Committee inthe 7th, 8th, and 9th tenures, Secretary of the Party Central Committee in the9th tenure, a deputy of the National Assembly in the 11th tenure, and DeputyPrime Minister from August 2002 to June 2006.
During his political career, he held variouspositions, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1990), Minister ofTrade (2000), Deputy Prime Minister in charge of foreign economic relations andChairman of the National Committee on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation –APEC (2002)./.
VNA
