National Assembly’s Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on October 15 hosted a reception to welcome the Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin.

National Assembly’s Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (right) meets his Russian counterpart Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin on October 15. Photo: daibieunhandan.vn

At the reception, Hue said that the Russian delegation’s visit to Vietnam is highly anticipated and that the visit is an important opportunity for the two legislative bodies to strengthen their relations, thus accelerating the bilateral ties between the two nations.

“Vietnam always respects and looks to enhance the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia through discussions and exchanges between parties, national assemblies, governments, and people,” Hue said.

The Party, the Government and the people of Vietnam are forever grateful for the support provided by the Soviet Union in wartimes and modern development, the Vietnamese legislative body’s chairman said as he affirmed the comprehensive, strategic, and friendly partnership between the two countries.

Hue also praised the role of political parties in Russia. He valued the achievements in socio-economic growth that Russia has made under the leadership of President Putin, as it has become one of the five economies by purchasing power parity.

In response, Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav expected that regular meetings will be held for high-ranking Vietnamese and Russian legislators.

The two nations’ national assemblies need to make better efforts to boost the bilateral relations in trade, economic cooperation, and investment, among others, he said.

The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation consists of members of five official parties, and all senators would want to strengthen the relations with Vietnam, he added.

In 2019, some 572,000 Russians arrived in Vietnam for different purposes, most of whom were on tour, Vyacheslav said. The Russian official hoped that the two countries would ease travel conditions so the number of Russian visitors to Vietnam would level the post-pandemic figure.

Sharing similar points of view

At the meeting, the two chairmen agreed that the Vietnam-Russia relations have progressed in recent years. They looked forward to holding more exchanges and discussions for high-level officials to bolster the ties.

The two legislative officials attend an exhibition displaying photos of the Vietnam-Russia diplomatic relations. Photo: daibieunhandan.vn

The two legislators consented that Vietnam and Russia will further cooperate with the international communities, ASEAN and the UN.

“Vietnam expects Russia to become a more important contributor to the Asia-Pacific region. Vietnam is willing to bridge Russia with ASEAN member states,” Hue said.

He added that Vietnam hopes that Russia will support the stance of Vietnam and ASEAN regarding the issues related to the East Sea (South China Sea) in respect of international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.

“Through the relations with ASEAN, Vietnam highly anticipates that Russia will be a positive party to persuade related sides to soon finalize and implement the Code of Conduct in East Sea.”

In terms of economic, trading and investing relations, the two chairmen said that Vietnam and Russia have been doing well in the execution of mutual agreements reached at the 24th meeting of the Vietnam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee on Economic Cooperation, Trade, and Science and Technology. The officials agreed to urge local agencies and authorities to soon detail action plans to achieve the goals.

Vietnam’s legislative chairman Hue suggested Russia simplify the standards for Vietnamese agri-aquatic exports and assist Vietnam and the Eurasia Economic Union in amending and upgrading their free trade agreement so that the two economies will record US$10 billion worth of two-way trade in 2030.

The two officials also shared the same view that cooperation in energy, oil and education sectors is the key pillar in the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership. Hue recommended that the two nations achieve higher results in science and technology development, vocational training, workforce exports, tourism, air transport, people exchange, and decentralized (local to local) cooperation.

Regarding the tension between Russia and Ukraine, Hue expected the two sides would soon reach peaceful solutions through talks and negotiations in respect of the UN Charter and international laws. He said that Vietnam is willing to contribute to the peace talks.

Agreeing with suggestions by Chairman Hue, Russian official Vyacheslav said that Russian legislators will work on the issues to boost the bilateral relations. He emphasized that the Vietnam and Russia’s inter-parliamentary committee will hold the key role in studying and realizing the suggestions and bolstering the cooperation between the two assemblies and two nations.

The Russian official believed that the relations between the two legislative bodies and the two nations would reach higher levels in the future.

Vyacheslav is leading a high-ranking Russian delegation to visit Vietnam on October 15-16. Today (October 16), Chairman Vyacheslav will meet with General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Vo Van Thuong, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.