Vietnam attaches importance to and is determined to promote its strategic partnership with Malaysia in a practical and effective manner in all fields and through Party, Government, and parliament channels and people-to-people exchanges, and at both central and local levels, National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue told Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in their meeting in Hanoi on July 21.
The top legislator hailed the Malaysian PM’songoing Vietnam visit on the occasion of the 50th founding anniversary of Vietnam-Malaysia diplomatic ties this year, believing that the trip will be an important milestone, contributing to strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Chairman Hue and PM Anwar agreed to continue creating favourable conditions for each other’s investment, business, and trade, while emphasising the importance of promoting bilateral trade growth in a more balanced way.
The two leaders underlined the need to support the review and limited application of trade defence measures, and enhance cooperation to maintain supply chains.
They said that Vietnam and Malaysia should strengthen collaboration in supporting Vietnamese enterprises operating in the Halal food industry in which Malaysia has strengths while Vietnam has potential.
The two leaders also discussed the importance of maritime and ocean cooperation, stressing that the two sides should consider establishing mechanisms to promote cooperation in fishing, processing, and consuming seafood, as this is an area that both sides have demand and can complement each other. They considered the possibility to establish a consultation mechanism for maritime issues and setting up hotlines to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The host and guest suggested further promoting cooperation in the fields of education, aviation, science and technology, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.
The two leaders agreed to maintain ASEAN’s common stance on the East Sea issue, and committed to continue coordinating in the next phase of negotiations on a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea and actively contributing to building a practical and effective COC in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Chairman Hue highly valued Malaysia’s permission for the establishment of the Malaysia-Vietnam Friendship Association in 2022 and hoped that the Malaysian government will continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Malaysia.
He spoke highly of PM Anwar’s proposal to promote tourism cooperation between the two countries, expressing his hope that the two sides will bolster negotiations to soon sign a new agreement on aviation cooperation to promote tourism development as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
The top legislator affirmed the Vietnamese NA will do its utmost to enhance the relations between the legislative bodies of the two nations on both bilateral and international levels, including the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and other regional and international forums; and step up the exchange of all-level delegations between the two legislatures.
The two leaders expected the two legislatures to expand cooperation and experience sharing in their operations.
The Malaysian PM agreed with the top Vietnamese legislator’s view on the need for the two countries to strengthen cooperation and exchanges between universities, especially research collaboration on the Halal food industry. He agreed to consider increasing the import of Vietnamese goods in the coming time.
Chairman Hue asked PM Anwar to convey his invitations to the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) and the President of the Dewan Negara (Senate) of Malaysia to pay official visits to Vietnam soon. He also invited the Malaysian Parliament to send a delegation to attend the 9th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Forum of Young Parliamentarians in Vietnam in September./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency