President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc meets Speaker of the House of Representatives of Indonesia Puan Maharani in Jakarta. — VNA/VNS Photo

JAKARTA — President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc met Speaker of the House of Representatives of Indonesia Puan Maharani on Thursday, as part of the Vietnamese leader’s ongoing State visit to the country.

The President congratulated Indonesia on its successful organisation of the G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20), helping it perform the G2 Presidency in 2022.

Affirming Việt Nam’s support for Indonesia’s ASEAN Chairmanship and its Chairmanship of the 44th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-44) in 2023, Phúc stressed that the bilateral ties have been developing strongly, especially after the establishment of the strategic partnership in 2013.

Việt Nam treasures and wishes to enhance the strategic partnership, the President stressed.

Phúc expressed his hope that the two legislatures will maintain their coordination and support the maintenance of ASEAN’s common stance on the East Sea issue, and the settlement of disputes by peaceful measures in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

He conveyed NA Chairman Vương Đình Huệ’s invitation to Maharani to visit Việt Nam. The latter accepted the invitation with pleasure.

Maharani, in her capacity as the AIPA Chair 2023, also used the occasion to invite Huệ to attend AIPA-44 to be held in Indonesia next year.

The host expressed her belief that Phúc’s visit will contribute to promoting and deepening the strategic partnership, and congratulated Việt Nam on its socio-economic achievements despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking of the encouraging outcomes of the talks between President Phúc and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo, Maharani emphasised that the Indonesian House of Representatives backs cooperation agreements reached on this occasion.

She agreed to increase delegation exchanges at all levels and through all channels, including delegations of the two legislatures and their committees, to share experience in law building and coordinate in monitoring bilateral cooperation agreements, thus promoting the role of the legislatures in strengthening bilateral ties, covering maritime cooperation, and contributing to ensuring safety and security of navigation, and maintaining peace and stability in the region.

The two sides concurred to bolster their close cooperation at other multilateral parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), and back each other’s stance on regional and international issues of shared concern.

The same day, President Phúc had a meeting with Deputy Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) of Indonesia Arsul Sani.

He congratulated Indonesia on its successful assumption of the G20 Presidency, expressing his belief that the country will successfully perform its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2023 and the Chairmanship of the 44th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-44).

The leader noted with pleasure the close legislative ties between the two countries, and lauded the MPR for its contributions to cooperation and friendship.

For his part, Sani congratulated Việt Nam on its post-pandemic economic recovery and growth and affirmed that Việt Nam is a very important partner of Indonesia in the region.

The two sides agreed to push ahead with the signing of a new cooperation agreement between the two legislative bodies to replace the one inked in 2010.

President Phúc called on the MPR to support the establishment of the twinning relations between Vietnamese and Indonesian localities, firstly between HCM City and Bali, and between Đà Nẵng and Semarang, to contribute to expanding people-to-people exchange and trade, investment and tourism links.

On Friday, President Phúc received Budiarsa Sastrawinata, President of the Indonesia - Vietnam Friendship Association. — VNS