National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ delivers a speech on the Việt Nam-Bangladesh traditional friendship and cooperation at Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

DHAKA — Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Vương Đình Huệ received Muhammad Faruk Khan, Chairman of the Bangladesh Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, and gave an important speech at the Foreign Service Academy of Bangladesh in Dhaka on Thursday.

Expressing his honour to welcome the NA leader and the Vietnamese delegation on an official visit to Bangladesh, Muhammad Faruk Khan said the trip will continue helping to intensify the traditional friendship between the two countries.

He affirmed that the legacy left by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of Bangladesh, and President Hồ Chí Minh for the countries created an important condition for both sides to promote their relations.

Chairman Huệ expressed his delight at the talks with Speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and noted that the two sides have set up the Việt Nam-Bangladesh and Bangladesh-Việt Nam parliamentary friendship groups.

He asked the parliaments’ committees for foreign relations and the chairpersons of the two parliamentary friendship groups to actively carry out the talks’ outcomes and the memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the legislative bodies so as to foster all-round ties.

The visiting leader also voiced his hope that many delegations of Bangladesh’s parliamentary committees, women parliamentarians, and young parliamentarians will come to share experience with the Vietnamese NA’s agencies.

The enhancement of exchanges will provide an impetus for all-faceted relations between their countries, he added.

The same day, Chairman Huệ delivered an important policy speech on bilateral ties at the Foreign Service Academy of Bangladesh.

He said Việt Nam, Bangladesh, and the international community are integral parts of the world and the flows of the 21st century, so they need a new mindset and new actions. The increasingly active engagement of small and medium countries, together with the coordination among countries of the South, is indispensable, particularly in the settlement of regional and global issues.

All countries, regardless of their sizes, should become truly responsible partners, jointly promote dialogue instead of confrontation, support multilateralism instead of unilateral acts, and comply with the United Nations Charter and international law, he went on.

Việt Nam is exerting efforts to bolster friendship and effective cooperation with other countries, especially traditional friends like Bangladesh, he said, emphasising the increasingly important role of parliamentary diplomacy in developing Việt Nam's substantive bilateral and multilateral relations, reinforcing the country’s connectivity with the region and cooperation with international partners, and nurturing the friendship and solidarity with people around the world.

Amidst countless changes of the era and ups and downs in history, the strong development of the traditional friendship and sound cooperation between Việt Nam and Bangladesh is invariable, Hue stated.

Giving several recommendations to help bilateral ties grow more strongly, the top legislator of Việt Nam said the two sides should further enhance political ties, trust, and mutual understanding between their leaders, all-level authorities, and sectors by increasing delegation exchanges and meetings, including between the two parliaments.

The countries need to coordinate closely to effectively implement the ASEAN and Bangladesh outlooks on the Indo-Pacific to help guarantee each party’s security and development interests. They need to bring into play the role of the countries of the South in contributing to the formation of an open, inclusive, and balanced regional architecture and the maintenance of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world. They should also effectively carry out existing cooperation mechanisms and open new cooperation channels to meet each side’s concerns and interests.

In addition, Việt Nam and Bangladesh should tighten economic links and consider this a focus of and impulse for bilateral relations, he remarked, suggesting them continue to explore new cooperation potential in trade, investment, transport, finance, banking, and customs; increase sharing economic development experience and policies; strengthen collaboration in green agriculture, climate adaptation in agriculture, and green technology; and create more favourable conditions for their enterprises to do business and invest in each other’s countries.

The NA Chairman also underlined the need to further reinforce defence and security cooperation; step up people-to-people exchanges to foster solidarity and friendship between the two countries' people; increase coordination via bilateral and multilateral channels to cope with such challenges as climate change, epidemics, and water resources security; and call on the international community and developed countries to increase sharing experience and give support to developing ones like Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Hue perceived that the two countries now have tremendous opportunities to strongly develop their ties, so they should stay confident and jointly take actions to build a brighter future. — VNS