NA Chairwoman meets Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker on IPU-138 sidelines

Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan had a meeting with Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Karu Jayasuriya on the fringes of the 138th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly.
 
NA Chairwoman meets Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker on IPU-138 sidelines ảnh 1Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (L) and Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Karu Jayasuriya (Source: VNA)
Geneva (VNA) – Chairwoman of theNational Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan had a meeting with Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Karu Jayasuriya onthe fringes of the 138th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU-138) in Geneva,Switzerland, on March 25 morning (local time).

She told her Ski Lankancounterpart that Vietnam always attaches importance to the time-honouredfriendship with Sri Lanka and wishes to advance the relationship on the basisof potential and advantages of each side.

NA Chairwoman Ngan suggestedthe two sides increase the exchange of all-level delegations, soon organise thefourth meeting of the Joint Committee at the foreign ministerial level in SriLanka in 2018, and implement the security dialogue mechanism at the publicsecurity ministerial level at an early date.

It is necessary for bothsides to effectively materialise outcomes of the visit to Vietnam by the SriLankan Prime Minister as well as signed cooperation documents, and consideradjusting and signing other documents suitable to the new situation, she said.

Noting trade revenue betweenVietnam and Sri Lanka, which exceeded 200 million USD in 2017, the NAChairwoman said the two countries have substantial potential for cooperation,urging them to utilise such potential, especially in key areas like oil and gas,infrastructure, information and communication technology, garment-textile,rubber, leather and footwear, agricultural product processing and distribution,dairy production and consumption, renewable energy, and air and maritimetransport.

She also proposed the earlyorganisation of the second meeting of the Joint Trade Sub-committee to discussmeasures to raise the bilateral trade to 1 billion USD, and intensify tradepromotion and connection, especially in the aviation sector.

Ngan affirmed that Vietnam is willing toshare experience and technologies in agro-fisheries development with Sri Lanka,while hoping that the two sides will continue supporting each other and avoid competitionin several products that both have strength such as tea, coffee and aquaticproducts.

The two sides should pay attention topotential fields like education and training, human resources training,telecommunications, information and digital technology infrastructure, tourismand culture, she added.

She also took this occasion to thank SriLanka for backing the Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka’s run for the post ofSecretary General of the Colombo Plan for 2018-2022, and wished that the host’soffices will help her fulfill her tasks.

Vietnam supports Sri Lanka’s efforts tointensify its cooperation with ASEAN, and is willing to be a bridge boostingcollaboration between ASEAN and SAARC, Ngan confirmed.

She asked the Sri Lankan Parliament to stepup delegation exchanges to further promote the two countries’ relations comprehensivelyand intensively.

The two legislative bodies should coordinatein reviewing and supervising the implementation of signed agreements to helpthem bring about practical benefits to both sides, she suggested.

The top Vietnamese legislator also requestedboth sides to continue strengthening cooperation and backing each other atmultilateral forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations andthe Non-Aligned Movement.

She expressed her hope that Sri Lanka willsupport the stance of Vietnam and ASEAN in principled issues such as maritimeand aviation freedom, compliance with international law and peaceful resolutionof disputes.

For his part, Karu Jayasuriya saidboth the President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka are interested in Vietnam’sdevelopment, and wish to enhance cooperation with the country.

He described Vietnam as amodel of socio-economic development that Sri Lanka wants to learn from.

Agreeing with Ngan’s ideas on trade,investment, culture and tourism cooperation, the Sri Lankan top legislator saidthat his country always wish to cooperate with Vietnam in the fields that ithas strength, including maritime potential exploitation.

He said he hopes that the two countries willlaunch a direct air route to facilitate bilateral investment and tourismties.-VNA
VNA

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