On the sidelines of the meetings, Phong met with Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Karu Jayasuriya, during which she affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of treasuring its traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with Sri Lanka.
NA's Permanent Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong (C) at 136th IPU meeting. Photo: Vietnam+
She proposed the two countries continue coordinating and supporting each other at multilateral forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement.
She suggested maintaining the exchange of all-level delegations, studying measures to further increase two-way trade, and actively implementing the investment encouragement and protection agreement between Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
The NA Vice Chairwoman also stressed the need to encourage the two countries’ businesses to take part in trade promotion activities, boost experience sharing and the exchange of science and technology in aquatic product farming and processing, and strengthen connectivity through the two governments’ Air Transport Agreement.
She asked for early reply from the Sri Lankan side on a draft agreement on educational cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and the Sri Lankan Ministry of Higher Education and Highways.
The Vietnamese official took the occasion to invite Jayasuriya to attend an IPU conference for the Asia-Pacific region in Ho Chi Minh City from May 11-13 to discuss legislators’ actions to realize the sustainable development goals in the context of climate change.
Speaker Jayasuriya expressed his hope to intensify his country’s fine relationship, especially in trade, with Vietnam.
On the same day, Phong met with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She said she hoped Bangladesh would continue creating favorable conditions for the two countries’ enterprises to seek business opportunities.
Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly’s Committee for External Relations Nguyen Van Giau had a meeting with a delegation from the Parliament of the Republic of Korea.
Also on April 2, the Vietnamese delegation participated in the meetings of the IPU General Assembly Standing Committee, the Standing Committee on Peace and International Security, the Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the IPU, and the Bureau of the Standing Committee on United Nations Affairs.
Source: VNA