Vietnam will invite Russian experts to help modernize the country's Cam Ranh naval base, Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh said on Tuesday.
"We are planning to turn the Cam Ranh Bay into a logistical support facility where both warships and civilian ships, including foreign ones, can be given minor to medium repair work," Thanh told the Tuoi tre daily.
Vietnam is currently is talks with Russia on project documentation, he said, adding that the scale of construction and the amount of investment in the modernization project had yet to be defined.
The minister said the port may also have potential for servicing aircraft carriers.
"So far we are unable to perform maintenance and repairs on aircraft carriers, but we do not rule out that they will be allowed to call in at the port in the future," Thanh said.
Foreign warships will be allowed access to Cam Ranh in accordance with generally accepted international practice, which will "significantly augment the state treasury," he said.
Cam Ranh was the main U.S. Air Force base during the Vietnam War. In 1979 the Soviet Union leased the base for 25 years, turning it into the state's largest naval base abroad. Russia gave up the lease in 2002 after Vietnam raised the rent on the base.
MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti)
