HANOI, November 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia could invest several billion dollars in the Vietnamese economy, President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

The Russian leader, who is staying an extra day in Vietnam's capital following a November 18-19 forum of Pacific Rim countries, held a meeting with Nguyen Minh Triet, the southeast Asian country's president.

"Our task is to diversify our relations, primarily through science-intensive products, engineering goods, communications services, space activities, and investment," Putin said.

The president said the potential of the Russian economy and some Russian companies was considerable, and expressed his hope that this potential would be tapped by Vietnam.

Bilateral trade has increased three-fold in the past five years and reached a record level of $1 billion last year, Putin said, adding that both countries had strong prospects in the sphere of telecommunications, metallurgy, agri-business and transport.

Putin also said Russia was prepared to cooperate with Vietnam in the sphere of nuclear power.

"We intend both to expand our interaction in the energy sector and to cooperate in the sphere of nuclear power," Putin said, adding that Russian companies were involved in the modernization and construction of nuclear power plants in Vietnam, and would continue this work.