President Lương Cường meets with the President of the Chilean Senate, José García Ruminot. VNA/VNS Photo

SANTIAGO – State President Lương Cường met President of the Chilean Senate José Garcia Ruminot in Santiago on November 11 morning (local time) as part of the Vietnamese leader’s ongoing official visit to Chile.

José Garcia stressed the importance of Cường’s visit, affirming that it is expected to deepen and advance the comprehensive partnership between the two countries through State, parliament, and people-to-people diplomacy channels.

The Vietnamese leader expressed his pleasure at making his first official visit to Chile and congratulated the South American country on its great socio-economic achievements over the past decades, helping raise its reputation and position in the region and the world at large.

He affirmed the importance Việt Nam attaches to developing its friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Latin American nations, with Chile playing a crucial position.

Việt Nam deeply values the support of the Chilean people during its past struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as the present cause of national development, Cuong said, noting that, through this visit, Việt Nam wishes to promote the comprehensive partnership, making it more intensive, substantive, and effective, towards elevating the relationship to a higher level in the time ahead.

García said in recent times, the Việt Nam-Chile relations in general and the parliamentary ties in particular have continued to grow strongly, substantively, and effectively across various areas, including politics-diplomacy, economy-trade, security-defence, investment, education, agriculture, and justice. Notably, both sides have regularly exchanged high-level delegations and maintained contacts.

He expressed his delight at the growth in bilateral trade, which continues to be a highlight in their relationship, reaching over US$1.3 billion in the first nine months of this year. Chile remains Việt Nam’s fourth-largest trade partner in Latin America, while Việt Nam is a major trade partner of Chile within the Association of Southeast Asia (ASEAN).

Cường affirmed that strengthening parliamentary relations is one of the important pillars of the two countries' diplomacy, contributing to promoting the Việt Nam - Chile bilateral relationship in general as well as establishing and implementing a favourable legal corridor between the two countries in particular.

He expressed his support for the two legislatures to continue strengthening cooperation through increased exchanges between their Friendship Parliamentary Groups as well as between delegations at all levels, and promoting coordination at various forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum.

The State President suggested that the two parliaments enhance cooperation, promote their role in supporting the ratification of initiatives, agreements, and cooperation pacts signed by their governments, ministries, and localities of the two nations to complete the bilateral collaboration framework, contributing to further consolidating and advancing the comprehensive partnership.

On this occasion, Cường conveyed an invitation from the Chairman of the National Assembly, Trần Thanh Mẫn, to the Chilean Senate leader to visit Việt Nam at an appropriate time. VNS