The Russian official made the statement at a reception held by State President Truong Tan Sang in Hanoi on December 5.

Mr Stepashin recalled his previous visit to Vietnam three years ago, saying that he was impressed by the Southeast Asian nation’s recent achievements.

He also thanked Vietnam for creating more favourable conditions for these joint ventures to bring in full play their strength.

For his part, President Sang appreciated the close cooperation between the State audit agencies of the two countries, saying he hopes Vietnam and Russia will have more large-scale cooperative projects in the near future.

Mr Sang thanked the Russian Government and people for the valuable support they have given to Vietnam in the past, and during its current development process.

He said he believes Russia’s upcoming presidential elections will be a great success.

Earlier, the Vietnam State Audit and its Russian counterpart signed the 2010 joint audit report on the use of the State budget to inspect the quality of the country’s exported seafood as well as the 2011 joint audit results of their oil and gas joint ventures.