Investvine.com-Sept 9
Vietnam has placed orders for Russian weapons and military services worth more than $1 billion, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported, according to Reuters.
“We have a portfolio of orders worth more than $1 billion,” TASS cited Dmitry Shugayev, head of Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, as saying on September 6.
The report came during a visit to Russia by Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party. It did not give any details of the deals or what sort of hardware Vietnam is going to purchase.
Vietnam and Russia have had close relations for decades. Russia is Vietnam’s biggest weapons supplier, and Russian companies are involved in several Vietnamese energy projects.
Vietnam had earlier bought six state-of-the-art Kilo attack submarines, along with several warships, jet fighters and other military equipment from Russia.
“The two sides have confirmed their commitment to continue developing their military ties,” Vietnam’s Communist Party said in a statement after a meeting in Russia between Trong and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Vietnam has been one of the world’s most active arms importers over recent years, amid China’s increasingly aggressive territorial claims in the South China Sea, where the neighbors have long-standing rivaling claims.
Moscow and Hanoi have also agreed to expand the oil and gas development and production zones in Vietnam’s offshore areas, the Kremlin press service added. Both countries will also expand the use of their national currencies in settlement payments, and Russia said it is open to support Vietnam with technology and know-how should the country resume plans of establishing a national nuclear power energy sector.
http://investvine.com/vietnam-orders-military-hardware-from-russia-for-1-billion/
