The article sums up the major outcome of a research aiming to draw the national / ethnic portraits and self-portraits of the Russian and the Vietnamese nations. Vietnamese-Russian mutual and self-perceptions were investigated in the frame of a questionnaire-based research conducted with Russian and Vietnamese university students (N=100 in each country) which was complemented by a corpus linguistic analysis. Data were collected in two categories: characteristic as well as personified (anthrophonymic) traits; whereas firstly lexical units descriptive of the Vietnamese and the Russian people were gathered, sec­ondly names of well-known personalities of the two nations were called for. Results shed light on differences as well as similarities between how members of both nations see themselves vis-à-vis how member of the other nation see them. Semantic asymmetries were pinpointed in the case of overlapping descriptions of national characteristics. Negative (critical) traits of mutual and self-perceptions were pinpointed. Results of the research may effectively contribute to the better understanding of Russian-Vietnamese intercultural communication and can hopefully be conductive to prevent intercultural misunderstandings and miscommunication in this relation.

Laos is one of the 32 landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) of the world, where isolation from the sea and the lack of a large-scale fishing industry have a direct effect on fish supply and fish consumption. Per capita fish consumption in LLDCs amounted to 5.1 kg/year in 2023, which is much lower than the world average (20.3 kg) as well as the Developing Regions average (20.0 kg). However, per capita fish consumption in Laos has reached 28.5 kg/year in 2023, representing the highest among the 32 LLDCs. Relying on the results and experiences of several decades of work in aquaculture development in Laos and taking into account the observations of local and international publications, documents and statistics included, the authors aimed at identifying the principal reasons for the elevated fish consumption in Laos from different perspectives, including that of aquaculture, as well as Lao language, culture, and religion. In this review, the authors analyzed the availability of aquatic resources, the role of fishing and aquaculture in the Lao economy and social life, market realities, as well as the importance of fish in Lao culture.