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Russia has been strengthening ties with major Asia-Pacific economies, after a string of Western sanctions. The country is looking for new partners and markets in the region. How global cooperation impacts trade and brings food diversity to the homes of ordinary Russians?

Finding the right ingredients for your favourite Phở noodles, Bánh rice or other Vietnamese specialities is no longer a problem in Moscow.

Visitors to Food City, Russia’s largest wholesale food centers, can easily find noodles, sauces, spices and at the recently opened Vietnam's food pavilion.

It’s part of a greater project - an Expo set up by the Eurasian Business Union aimed at helping Asian producers overcome logistics and legal barriers to access the Russian market and bring food diversity to ordinary Russian households.

"It combines the interests of buyers and sellers. Exotic products are especially very attractive for Russian customers. we would like to find the best conditions in terms of price and in terms of quality of goods to supply them with these exotic products," Alexey Kubasov,director of Int'l Cooperation of Eurasian Business Union, said.

APEC countries account for over 29% of all Russia’s foreign trade and the region rates as its second largest trading partner. Russia is exploring ways to boost trade with Asia to recover from a 12% drop since last year.

For instance, Russia and Vietnam have recently struck a Free Trade Agreement and plan to boost their cooperation.

"Trade turnover between Russia and Vietnam is about $4bln, and both countries would like to significantly increase these numbers by 2020, to about $10 billion, The share of agricultural products should also increase - to $4bln," Tran Quoc Trung, chairman of Vietnamese Association of Partners, said.

Vietnam was one of the first to mark its presence at the expo - Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia are next, with several other South East Asian countries expected to unveil their designated pavilions shortly.

"We’d like to expand, to expand the daily consumption of goods, the assortment of goods. We are going to increase the total turnover up to $700billion next year," Kubasov said.

The initiatives like this one help people and businesses cross cultural frontiers, customs and logistics barriers, boosting trade and strengthening cooperation between Russia and its partners in Asia.