Phongsavan Sisoulat, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum 2025 (EEF 2025) that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) could cooperate with Russia in the fields of agriculture, mining and energy.
“In ASEAN, we have a number of areas that we can share or offer cooperation to the Russian business community, for example, agriculture, clean, sustainable energy, mining, services, and technology,” the diplomat said.
According to Sisulat, tourism is also an important area of cooperation. The diplomat noted that more than 2.5 million Russian tourists visited ASEAN countries in 2025. However, there is a problem of the language barrier, which could be solved by the development of tourist guides who speak English.
“These are the things we need to work on together in the coming years to promote bilateral trade and tourism cooperation,” Sisulat said.
The Eastern Economic Forum is taking place in Vladivostok from 3 to 6 September. This year, the event celebrates its tenth anniversary. The forum aims to stimulate the inflow of foreign investment to the Russian Far East, as well as to develop economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. This year, representatives of more than 70 countries and territories have confirmed their participation. The organizers planned to hold 90 thematic sessions, divided into seven key blocks.