As a result, President Putin and Chiang Dai Kuang agreed to hold a ‘Year of Russia’ in Vietnam and ‘Year of Vietnam’ in Russia.
Friendly relations between our peoples are both at the state and regional levels. In the spring of 2010, Kalmykia was honoured to host the Socialist Republic of Vietnam government delegation. The distinguished visitors noted that we were united by a number of common economic interests and were impressed by sincere interest, warm welcome and solidarity shown by the people of Kalmykia.
As President of the International Chess Federation, I cannot but note the great success that Vietnam has achieved in this sport. This country became one of the first in Southeast Asia, where chess was included into the educational programme of the secondary school. Starting with an experiment carried out in thirty schools in 2008, Vietnamese teachers quickly achieved impressive results. I repeatedly see the success of ‘Chess in schools’ programme in Vietnam. In a relatively short time, its national team has become a serious contender for the world's leading players and this applies to both women's and children's teams in Vietnam. In 2013, Vietnamese chess player Le Quang Liem became the World Blitz Champion, and I am sure that Vietnam can be a regional leader in chess development.
A native of the northern province of Vietnam, Chiang Dai Kuang was a faithful son of his people and a true patriot of the country. Guided by the interests of the state, he strengthened his friendship with Russia, assisted the development of the chess movement in order to raise the intellectual level of the people of his country.
I join you in your grief on the untimely death of Chiang Dai Kuang."