(VOVworld) – An article entitled “Russia-Vietnam: Together to New Cooperation Goals” written by Russian President Vladimir Putin has been published prior to Putin’s visit to Vietnam. The visit, at the invitation of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, will begin on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Vietnam begins on November 12th. (Photo: Reuters)

Putin says the Russian-Vietnamese friendship has stood the test of time thanks to mutual respect, a tradition of mutual confidence, and mutual assistance. That’s the way the two countries have nurtured their relationship for stable development in the future.

Russia attaches great importance to its cooperation with Asia-Pacific states, among which Vietnam is emerging as one of the leading centers of growth. According to Putin’s article, bilateral trade last year increased 20% to 3.66 billion USD. Both countries expect that it will reach 7 billion USD by 2015 and 10 billion USD by 2020.

To conclude his article, Putin expressed his hope that future high-level talks in Hanoi will be fruitful as usual and will give new momentum to the strategic partnership between the two States and their peoples.