At the meeting between Minister of Finance Ngô Văn Tuấn and Aysen Sergeyevich Nikolayev, Head of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) of Russia on Thursday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Finance Ngô Văn Tuấn had a meeting with Aysen Sergeyevich Nikolayev, Head of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) of Russia on Thursday on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) 2026 in Vladivostok, Russia.

At the meeting, Tuấn affirmed that Việt Nam attaches importance to its traditional friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Russia, while highly appreciating Sakha (Yakutia)’s interest in expanding cooperation with Vietnamese localities.

Highlighting Sakha (Yakutia)’s potential and strengths, particularly in minerals, diamonds, coal, energy, liquefied natural gas and the Aldan industrial cluster, the minister expressed his hope of creating a bridge for businesses of both countries to explore cooperation, investment and trade opportunities.

He proposed tapping into the complementary strengths between Sakha (Yakutia)’s resources and raw materials and Việt Nam’s processing capacity, market access and network of free trade agreements, particularly in agriculture, fisheries and food processing, mineral processing and consumer goods.

Nikolayev spoke highly of Việt Nam’s impressive socio-economic development achievements, saying Sakha (Yakutia) considers Việt Nam an important priority partner in Southeast Asia and hopes to create new breakthroughs in bilateral cooperation.

Responding to Việt Nam’s proposals, he said Sakha (Yakutia) has great demand for human resources serving infrastructure and industrial development projects. The Russian republic strongly supported Tuấn’s proposal to implement an organised labour cooperation model in line with the laws of both countries and linked with proper vocational training.

Regarding local-level connectivity, the minister backed Sakha (Yakutia)’s proposal to establish comprehensive cooperation with Cần Thơ City of Việt Nam. The two sides agreed to assign relevant agencies to promptly connect and prepare necessary procedures towards signing an official cooperation agreement between Sakha (Yakutia) and Cần Thơ, creating a foundation for expanding cooperation with other Vietnamese localities sharing similar potential.

The two sides also agreed to continue promoting cultural, sports and tourism exchanges, as well as education and training cooperation, to enhance mutual understanding between the peoples of Việt Nam and Russia.

During the meeting, they held in-depth discussions on measures to remove obstacles and facilitate cooperation, including improving payment mechanisms, logistics, and sharing market and legal information with businesses and investors.

Concluding the meeting, Tuấn expressed his belief that cooperation between Việt Nam and Sakha (Yakutia), Russia, will become increasingly substantive and effective, bringing practical benefits to both sides. He also invited Nikolayev and a Sakha (Yakutia) delegation to visit and work in Việt Nam at a suitable time. — VNA/VNS