National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ (right) welcomed Australian Governor-General David Hurley for talks in Hà Nội on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vương Đình Huệ had a meeting with Australian Governor-General David Hurley in Hà Nội on Tuesday, during which the host affirmed that increasing political trust is an important basis for promoting the comprehensive development of the two countries' relations across such fields as politics, diplomacy, defence-security, investment, culture, tourism, and people-to-people diplomacy.

Huệ expressed his hope that the Governor-General would continue paying attention to and promoting the countries’ defence and security cooperation; and supporting Việt Nam in joining the UN peacekeeping force.

Việt Nam wished the two sides to promote sustainable and balanced trade, with Australia facilitating the import of Vietnamese farm produce and vice versa, he noted.

The top legislator also proposed Hurley promote bilateral collaboration in the field of agricultural technology and working-holiday labour, and encourage joint works between localities of the two nations.

He appreciated Australia's interest in the Mekong sub-region cooperation mechanism, and Australia for supporting Việt Nam’s candidacy for a seat in the UN Human Rights Council in the 2023-25 tenure, and sharing many similar views with the Southeast Asian country at regional and international forums

He took the occasion to send his invitation to President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines and Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives Milton Dick to visit Việt Nam at an appropriate time.

For his part, Hurley emphasised the importance of people-to-people exchange and noted that the two sides had built a very solid foundation for the development of bilateral relations, especially via the strategy to strengthen their economic cooperation.

He said Australia supported ASEAN's stance on the South China Sea issue, the bloc’s centrality, and its approach to solving regional matters.

He agreed that parties involved should make efforts to maintain peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea; respect national sovereignty and international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); and seriously implement the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and develop an effective and legally-binding Code of Conduct in the waters (COC) in accordance with international law.

Regarding Huệ’s information on a number of new areas of cooperation between the Vietnamese and Australian legislative bodies to perfect the legal institutions such as those serving digital transformation, equitable energy transition, and climate change response, the Governor-General said these were important areas bringing benefits to both sides.

It was necessary to pay attention to them and learn from past experiences, taking these as a solid fulcrum to fortify the bilateral cooperative relationship, he stressed.

A delegation of the Australian Senate committee for regional cooperation development would visit Việt Nam in the near future, said Hurley, adding that the sides would jointly find ways to promote relations and provide orientations to boost collaboration further. — VNS