Russia, Brunei jointly move towards prosperity

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is currently touring counties of the Asia-Pacific region. On Saturday, he visited Japan, and on Sunday – Brunei.

In Brunei’s capital, a city called Bandar Seri Begawan, Mr. Lavrov met with Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Lim Jock Seng. Then, the Russian Foreign Minister went to the local university, where he made a speech. His audience consisted of Brunei’s top officials and businesspeople, as well as the university’s teachers and students.

As far as Islam is the official religion in Brunei, every ceremony there usually starts with a prayer. This time, the audience also prayed to Allah before Mr. Lavrov’s speech.

In his speech, Sergey Lavrov stressed that Russia is an inseparable part of the Asia-Pacific region, and Russia’s interests in the region are one of the main aspects of the Russian government’s policy.

At present, the role of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region in the world policy is evidently growing, and Mr. Lavrov spoke mostly on this topic in his speech. The Russian minister thinks that currently, Russia has no serious contradictions with any of the countries of the region, and those small misunderstandings which still exist can be settled through talks.

Economic cooperation between Russia and Asian countries is also growing, Mr. Lavrov said.

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In 2012, a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum will be held in Russia – for the first time in the forum’s history. Mr. Lavrov believes that the forum will open new possibilities both for Asian countries and for Russia.

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The Russian Foreign Minister also spoke about concrete plans for Russian-Brunei cooperation:

“For many years, Russia has had very good relations with Brunei. The two countries are cooperating very closely – both in politics and in other spheres. For example, intensive talks are now being held between the two countries’ energy ministries. Some time ago, a delegation of the Brunei Ministry of Energy visited Russia, and later, a delegation of the Russian Energy Ministry paid the visit back. The Russian gas giant “Gazprom” is discussing possible contracts with “Brunei Petroleum”. Brunei will probably buy some oil-producing equipment from Russia. Besides, a delegation of the Russian “Rosatom” atomic agency has visited Brunei. Russia and Brunei are also planning to think over possible joint projects in other countries – and, I believe, much may be done here if we join our potentials.”

This is Sergey Lavrov’s first visit to Brunei in the status of Russia’s foreign minister.

Diplomatic relations between Russia and Brunei were established in 1991.