Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, his wife and a high-ranking delegation left Hà Nội yesterday morning for official visits to Russia, Norway and Sweden.— VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, his wife and a high-ranking delegation left Hà Nội yesterday morning for official visits to Russia, Norway and Sweden.
The visits are being made at the invitation of Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.
PM Phúc’s visit to Russia from May 20-23 takes place in the context of the Việt Nam Year in Russia and the Russia Year in Việt Nam in 2019 and 2020 to mark the 25th anniversary of the treaty on basic principles for bilateral relations and the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
It also demonstrates that Việt Nam treasures its traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, as well as aiming to strengthen all-round cooperation, especially in economy, trade and investment.

His visit to Norway from May 24-26 will affirm the strong relations between the two nations and help deepen the traditional friendship and develop bilateral co-operation in a more effective manner.
This is the first visit by a Vietnamese PM to the northern European country since 1999. Both countries are celebrating their 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
After Norway, PM Phúc will visit Sweden from May 26-28, asserting that Việt Nam had attached importance to consolidating the friendship and traditional co-operation between the two countries in the past five decades. Notably, this is the first visit at a PM-level to Sweden in 20 years. — VNS