Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Phạm Bình Minh (r) welcomes Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Alexander Bugayev in Hà Nội on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Văn Điệp

HÀ NỘI — Young Vietnamese and Russian people and agencies in charge of youth affairs should organise practical activities to continue fostering the friendship and co-operation between the two nations, said a senior Vietnamese official.

While receiving Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Alexander Bugayev in Hà Nội on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Phạm Bình Minh said the Vietnamese Party and State had always paid due attention to and created the best conditions for young people of the two countries to join exchange programmes, co-operate, enhance mutual understanding and share working experience.

Minh applauded the signing of a co-operation agreement for 2019-22 between the National Committee on Youth of Vietnam and the Russian Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, covering a wide range of issues such as stepping up exchanges between young leaders, sharing information about and experience in youth affairs in each country, co-operating in volunteer activities and promoting collaboration between young businesspeople.

Việt Nam and Russia had time-honoured friendly relations whose foundations were laid by their generations of leaders and nurtured by generations of people, becoming a valuable asset of both nations, he said.

Recently, the two countries have regularly exchanged high-level delegations, including the visits to Việt Nam by President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the trips to Russia by Party General Secretary, President Nguyễn Phú Trọng and Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.

Bugayev, who is leading a delegation of Russian young people to the Việt Nam-Russia Youth Forum 2019 in Hà Nội, thanked the Vietnamese Government for its support and assistance in the organisation of the first Việt Nam-Russia Youth Forum.

The freshly-signed co-operation pact for 2019-22 would lay the foundations for the youth of Russia and Việt Nam to further promote co-operative relations, he said.

Earlier same day, the National Committee on Youth of Việt Nam and the Russian Federal Agency for Youth Affairs signed a co-operation agreement for the 2019-22 period. 

Under the terms of the agreement, the two sides will step up exchanges between young leaders, share information about and experience in youth affairs in each country, co-operate in volunteer activities and promote collaboration between young businesspeople.  

The signing of the pact followed the talks between Chairman of National Committee on Youth of Việt Nam Lê Quốc Phong, who is also First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union, Chairman of the Russian Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Alexander Bugayev in Hà Nội. 

Their meeting formed part of the Việt Nam-Russia Youth Forum that is being held in Hà Nội, HCM City and the northeastern province of Quảng Ninh from July 23-29. 

The forum, together with the Russia-Việt Nam Youth Forum slated for September 24 to October 1 in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, aims to welcome the Việt Nam-Russia and Russia-Việt Nam Year and the 25th anniversary of the signing of the treaty on basic principles for Việt Nam-Russia friendship. 

During the talks, Phong affirmed that Vietnamese youngsters were aware of their responsibility to make all-out efforts to contribute to promoting the traditional friendship between the two nations.

He highlighted co-operation between Vietnamese and Russian young people through exchanges and joint events, saying the two countries and the agencies in particular still had substantial potential for collaboration in youth affairs. 

For his part, Bugayev expressed his hope for stronger co-operation between youth-related agencies of the two countries, and suggested partnerships in volunteer activities, new-style rural area building and support for start-ups. 

The two sides noted their belief that co-operation between the two agencies would be enhanced in the future, contributing to the development of the Việt Nam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership. — VNS