Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan (R) and Katanandov Sergey Leonidovich, special envoy of Saint Petersburg's governor.

Mr. Nhan called on Saint Petersburg to bolster ties in health care, grant scholarships for ballet and symphony music students of Vietnam, and organise a week of HCM City goods in Saint Petersburg.

Regarding educational cooperation, the HCM City leader asked for more attention to teaching Vietnamese in Saint Petersburg and Russian in Ho Chi Minh City. He also suggested Russian be taught at high schools and universities toward adding Russian studies to the curricula of local universities.