(The Moscow Times via NewsEdge) VimpelCom, Russia's second-largest mobile operator, said that it had agreed to form a joint venture in Vietnam and invest $1 billion to develop the country's mobile network.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung blessed the signing of a raft of business deals with Russian firms and called on Russians to return to the country.
Dung came to Moscow at the invitation of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. President Vladimir Putin, who is seeking to revive ties with Moscow's former allies, also met with Dung at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence.
'We came to a conclusion that we need to expand our cooperation,' Dung said.
Russia is currently the second-largest destination for Vietnamese investments after Laos, Dung said.
In Vietnam, Russian firms are currently involved in 54 projects, worth $300 million, he said.
VimpelCom said that it would set up a joint venture in Vietnam to invest $1 billion in the country's GSM mobile network over the next few years. It will be the company's first foreign venture outside the Commonwealth of Independent States.
VimpelCom said it would only hold minority voting rights in the venture, GTel Mobile, in line with Vietnamese law, but would be entitled to a majority of the profits.
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