OREANDA-NEWS. December 15, 2009. Transcript of the beginning of the meeting: Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen,

Allow me to cordially welcome you to Moscow. I am very pleased that our bilateral relations are making steady headway. Importantly, they are developing on the basis of the declaration on strategic partnership.

However, even this declaration is not all-important. What matters is that the relations between Russia and Vietnam are of an exceptionally special character. Both countries are treating their relations with particular attention and special warmth. The opening of the Kamran memorial as a tribute to our former military brotherhood is the recent evidence of this.

We are very grateful to the Vietnamese people and leaders for this attitude to the events of the past and to the memory of the perished Russian and Soviet soldiers.

Today we are living through the world financial and economic crisis, but for all that our trade and economic turnover has increased in the nine months of this year over last year.

Vietnam is carrying out 60 projects with the participation of Russian companies. We are implementing our plan of cooperation.

We see how effectively your country is developing and we are very glad that our bilateral cooperation is a tangible factor in Vietnam's economic progress.

Welcome to Moscow!

Nguyen Tan Dung (as translated): Esteemed Mr Prime Minister, I am very grateful to you for your kind words about our people, our cooperation and relations in general. Thank you also for inviting me to visit Russia.

Allow me to congratulate Russia for recent outstanding achievements in all spheres on behalf of our party, the state and the Vietnamese people.

We in Vietnam are very happy that our relations of strategic partnership and bilateral cooperation are actively making progress in all fields.

Allow me to use this opportunity for setting forth our proposals on the further development of our cooperation with a view to upgrading its level.