MOSCOW, Sep. 14 (TASS) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar Than Swe, who is on a working visit in Russia, to discuss trade-and-economic and defense cooperation between their countries.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the ministers will discuss the current state of and prospects for the further development of the entire spectrum of bilateral ties, "including political dialogue, trade and economic cooperation, cooperation in the areas of defense and security, as well as humanitarian exchanges." "They will also discuss current issues on the regional and international agenda," she said.

Plans to develop ties
The Russian side wants to develop relations with all countries of the Asia Pacific region, including Myanmar. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) that trade between Russia and countries of the Asia Pacific region grew by 18.3% this year and expressed a hope that economic ties with these countries would continue developing.

Apart from that, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Russia is set to develop military cooperation with the Asia Pacific region. He noted that Russia and a number of Asian countries, including Myanmar, "share experience of fighting against colonialism."

Humanitarian ties between Russia and Myanmar are developing actively, including in the tourism sector. The two countries have direct air service. Interest to the study of the Russian language is growing in Myanmar. Thus, this month, the Altai State Humanitarian and Pedagogical University with the assistance from Russia’s education ministry opened a center of education in Russian at the Mandalay University, which has more than 1,500 students.

Joint projects
Russia has also proposed to set up a group for planning long-term joint projects with Myanmar. Chairman of the Russia-ASEAN Business Council Ivan Polyakov told TASS that the Russia-Myanmar strategic economic planning group will work on plans for developing such sector as energy, farming, infrastructure, ecology, education, public health, and information and communications technologies in Myanmar.

Apart from that, the two countries plan to develop cooperation in the nuclear sector. According to CEO of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom Alexey Likhachev, Myanmar is expected to reach agreements with Rosatom on the construction of nuclear power plants in its territory. The corporation and Myanmar signed a memorandum on the development of non-energy nuclear technologies. According to Myanmar’s Minister of Electricity and Energy Thaung Han, the country wants to develop the nuclear sector to gain economic independence.