Russian Upper House Speaker To Pass Putin's Message To Sultan Of Brunei

Speaker of the Russian parliament's upper house Valentina Matviyenko said on Tuesday that she would pass a message of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2019) Speaker of the Russian parliament's upper house Valentina Matviyenko said on Tuesday that she would pass a message of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah.

On Monday, Matviyenko arrived in Brunei for a two-day official visit.

"I am tasked with passing a message of the Russian president to His Majesty [sultan of Brunei] during today's meeting. I will gladly do it," Matviyenko said at a meeting with Speaker of Legislative Council of Brunei Abdul Rahman Mohamed Taib.

She expressed satisfaction with the development of the Russian-Bruneian relations.

"For us Brunei is a friendly country, an important partner in the Asia-Pacific region. We are very happy that the relations between our countries are developing gradually," Matviyenko said.

The Russian official noted that Russia welcomed Brunei's balanced approach to solution of regional and international problems, pointing out that Moscow shared a similar position.

"This opens great opportunities for our cooperation, coordination of our efforts in the United Nations and other international platforms," Matviyenko said.

According to the speaker of the Russian parliament's upper house, the parties will sign a memorandum of understanding between the legislative bodies during the talks.

"We have earlier agreed on the need to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Federation Council and the Legislative Council of Brunei.

I am glad that we are implementing the reached agreements and will sign today this memorandum," Matviyenko said, adding that the document will create a legal basis for further cooperation and inter-parliamentary dialogue.

She also stressed that Russia and Brunei had a great potential to boost bilateral trade and called for increasing the trade and economic ties between Moscow and Bandar Seri Begawan.

Energy and agriculture are promising areas for the development of bilateral cooperation between Russia and Brunei, Matviyenko stated.

The Russian official also spoke about opportunities for the development of the bilateral defense industry cooperation.

"We see great opportunities for the development and expansion of defense industry cooperation, given that some important documents are already signed and there is a legal basis for such cooperation. Our experts maintain contacts on the issue," Matviyenko said.

She praised the fact that Russian military vessels were allowed to enter Bruneian ports.

Matviyenko also touched upon the issue of energy cooperation between Moscow and Bandar Seri Begawan.

"Concerning the energy sphere, Russia is ready to provide Brunei with modern technologies of utilization of associated gas as well as deliver consulting services to [Bruneian] energy companies on increasing oil recovery," the official said.

Matviyenko added that Russia and Brunei could start exchanges of business missions.