National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung has affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of attaching importance to developing the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Sri Lanka.

NA Chairman Hung made the remarks at talks with visiting Speaker of Sri Lanka’s Parliament, Chamal Rajapaksa, in Hanoi on July 15 following a welcoming ceremony for the visitor.

The Vietnamese legislative chief expressed his hope that Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa’s visit will further tighten the relationship between the two countries.

He congratulated Sri Lanka on its significant achievements in maintaining peace, stability, national concord and reconciliation as well as its triumphs during its cause of national construction and reconstruction.

The NA leader said he believed that under the sound guidance of its leaders, Sri Lanka will rapidly become a prosperous country which plays an increasingly important role in the region and the world.

He thanked the people of Sri Lanka for their support to Vietnam during the past struggle for national independence as well as the present process of national construction and development.

Chairman Hung noted with joy the active development of the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries and the fruitful links between the two legislative bodies in particular.

Apart from fine relations in politics, Vietnam and Sri Lanka have cultivated ties in economics, trade and investment cooperation, however, the outcomes have yet to match their potential, he said.

Vietnam desires to step up cooperation with Sri Lanka in areas that are of either side’s strengths and demands such as agriculture, aquaculture, infrastructure development, culture, education and national defence and security, he noted.

The NA chief expressed his hope that Sri Lanka will share its experience in applying international laws in several fields like addressing trade disputes and ensuring maritime security and safety, saying Vietnam is willing to share its experience in national construction and reconstruction.

Thanking Sri Lanka for backing Vietnam as a host of the 132nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union scheduled for 2015, the legislative chief said he hopes that Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa will lead a high-ranking Sri Lankan delegation to the event.

For his part, Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa thanked Vietnam for its support to his country in national construction and reconstruction.

He expressed his delight with the strong performance of the two countries’ friendship parliamentarians’ groups, contributing to boosting legislative ties and people-to-people exchanges.

The speaker underlined the need for the two countries to strengthen their cooperation in tourism, aviation and aquatic products apart from their existing close links in national defence and security, trade and investment.

At the talks, host and guest agreed to further enhance the friendship and cooperation between the two legislative bodies.

They declared to closely work with each other in supervising the implementation of agreements reached by the two Governments, creating a favourable legal environment for the two countries’ businesses to boost their exchanges as well as trade and investment promotion activities.

The two sides will also increase the exchange of delegations of committees and friendship parliamentarian groups and the sharing of experiences in parliamentary and legislative activities while consulting each other at multilateral forums.

Later on in the day, NA Chairman Hung hosted a banquet for Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa and his entourage.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan delegation visited Ho Chi Minh Museum and the Vietnam Buddhist Institute.

The same day, Prof. Tissa Vitharana, Senior Minister of Technology and Research and General Secretary of the Socialist Party of Sri Lanka, worked with the Vietnamese Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations and the Ministry of Science and Technology.-VNA