"The Moscow visit of second in command in Myanmar Vice-Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council and Vice-Senior General Maung Aye is telling in many respects. Russian business and diplomacy have made a breakthrough in South-East Asia, a region where President Vladimir Putin attended the first ASEAN-Russia summit in Kuala Lumpur at the end of last year. ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations), which unites the region's ten countries, conducts summits only with its closest partners. ASEAN's decision to make Russia a permanent participant of such summits (on a par with the heads of state or government of China, India and Japan, to name a few) reflected stronger political ties with Moscow and more active business contacts. Energy projects have always been Russia's obvious advantage. As for South East Asia, Moscow invests in oil and gas production in Vietnam and supplies Thailand with know-how and technologies. Now the Russian company Zarubezhneft has signed a memo of understanding in Moscow on strategic cooperation in the oil industry with the Myanmar Ministry of Energy..."