National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn (right) meets President of the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand Wan Muhamad Noor Matha in Vientiane on Saturday. — VNA/VNS Photo

VIENTIANE — National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn on October 19 noted with pleasure the growing legislative ties between Việt Nam and Thailand and suggested the two sides enhance all-level delegation exchanges to boost cooperation.

At a meeting with President of the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand Wan Muhamad Noor Matha on the sidelines of the ongoing 45th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-45) in Vientiane, Mẫn affirmed that Việt Nam always attaches importance to and wishes to strengthen its enhanced strategic partnership with Thailand and work together with the country to advance the relationship to a new height.

Mẫn stressed that the bilateral trade reached US$13 billion in the first eight months of this year, up 8.6 per cent year-on-year, suggesting the two sides work harder to reach the target of $25 billion in the two-way trade in a balanced manner. It can be achieved by reducing trade barriers, facilitating market access, resolving obstacles, and enhancing trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, he continued.

Regarding the legislative ties, the Vietnamese leader highlighted a cooperation agreement between the two legislatures for the 2023-28 period and a range of solutions taken to deepen the cooperation.

The Thai leader, for his part, congratulated Việt Nam on its achievements in socio-economic development, especially in attracting foreign investments, including those from Thailand.

He also commended contributions by the community of 100,000-odd Vietnamese in Thailand to the host country's socio-economic development.

The two leaders agreed to further boost coordination in monitoring the implementation of cooperation agreements reached by the two countries, while effectively putting in place collaboration documents between the two legislative bodies.

Mẫn suggested the Thai legislature continue supporting cooperation between the two countries at multilateral forums, particularly the United Nations, AIPA, ASEAN, and sub-regional cooperation mechanisms.

The two leaders emphasised the need to uphold ASEAN's common stance on the East Sea issue, ensuring peace, stability, security, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the region on the basis of international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. — VNS