President of the Senate of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva (right) chairs a welcome ceremony for and holds talks with visiting National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn. — VNA/VNS Photo

TASHKENT — National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn held talks with President of the Senate of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva in Tashkent on April 5 afternoon (local time) following an official welcome ceremony for the Vietnamese leader.

Narbaeva warmly welcomed Mẫn on his official visit to Uzbekistan, emphasising the importance of the first visit by a NA Chairman since the two countries established diplomatic relations. She expressed her belief that the visit will open up promising cooperation opportunities for the two countries, making positive contributions to the development and construction of each country.

The Senate President assessed Việt Nam as the most dynamically developing country in Asia, a close friend of Uzbekistan with a traditional friendship that has been tested by time, affirming that geographical distance cannot be a barrier for the two countries to develop relations in all fields. Narbaeva recalled memories of her youth when she met many Vietnamese students studying in Tashkent.

Mẫn expressed his delight, on behalf of Party and State leaders, to lead a high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese NA to officially visit beautiful and hospitable Uzbekistan and attend the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-150). He thanked Narbaeva and the Uzbekistan side for the warm welcome given to the delegation as well as the profound memories with Việt Nam.

On this occasion, the NA Chairman congratulated Uzbekistan on its impressive development results and increasingly strengthened role in the region and the world as well as on hosting the IPU-150 Assembly, helping to affirm the prestige and high appreciation that the international community has reserved for Uzbekistan.

Recalling the visits to Uzbekistan by President Hồ Chí Minh in 1959 and Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng in 2011, Mẫn expressed his appreciation for the long-standing traditional friendship and wished to promote cooperation with Uzbekistan in all fields to contribute to the development of each country. The NA Chairman affirmed that Việt Nam always remembers the assistance that the people of Uzbekistan gave Việt Nam in the struggle for national liberation and in the current cause of national construction and development.

Sharing Việt Nam's great achievements in nearly 40 years of renewal in ensuring socio-political stability and strong economic recovery, Mẫn said that Việt Nam is currently "accelerating, breaking through, and reaching the finish line" to successfully complete the development goals for the 2021-25 period, towards a new era -- an era of national development, prosperity, civilisation, and prosperity, successfully achieving the goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2045 when the country celebrates its 100th founding anniversary.

The Senate President expressed her impression of and admiration for the remarkable development steps that Việt Nam has achieved after nearly 40 years of renewal under the wise leadership of generations of Vietnamese leaders, and highly appreciated the goals that the leaders of the Vietnamese Party and State have set to develop the country and improve the income and living standards of the people.

Narbaeva affirmed that Uzbekistan highly values the traditional friendship and good multi-faceted cooperation with Việt Nam, considering Việt Nam as a key important partner of Uzbekistan in the Southeast Asian region. She also shared Uzbekistan's major guidelines and policies in institutional reform and socio-economic development, towards the people, similar to Việt Nam.

In an atmosphere of trust, openness and joy at the establishment of the Việt Nam-Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan-Việt Nam Friendship Parliamentary Groups by the two parliaments, the two leaders emphasised the need to promote the good values of the history of bilateral relations, continue to deepen Việt Nam-Uzbekistan cooperation comprehensively in all fields and channels, including the Party, State, National Assembly and people-to-people exchanges.

The two sides should increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level delegations of the Party, State, Government and parliament, exchange cooperation and experience between specialised committees, Friendship Parliamentary Groups, Young Parliamentarians Groups, and Women Parliamentarians Groups; promote the role of supervising and urging the implementation of cooperation agreements signed by the two Governments, especially agreements to promote economic and trade cooperation; and continue to support each other in expanding cooperation with parliaments of countries in the region.

Recognising that there remains significant potential and untapped advantages in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, the two leaders agreed on the need to focus on several key directions in the coming time to promote mutually beneficial collaboration.

Attention will be paid to increasing the exchange of information on policies and markets, creating conditions for businesses from both countries to participate in investment and trade promotion activities, and boosting cooperation in the energy, and oil and gas sectors which both sides have potential and demand, especially in the context of diversifying investment partners, they stressed.

Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn and President of the Senate of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva signed Cooperation Agreement between the parliaments of Việt Nam and Uzbekistan following their talks. — VNA/VNS Photo

The two sides also emphasised the importance of cooperation in agriculture, textiles, health care, culture, tourism, education and training, and transport, local collaboration, and people-to-people exchanges in advancing the bilateral relations. They called on relevant agencies to strengthen educational cooperation and student exchanges, while welcoming the launch of direct flights between Khánh Hòa and Tashkent by the two countries’ airlines starting in June 2024.

The two leaders also agreed on the necessity to further strengthen coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, including within the framework of the United Nations and other international organisations to which both countries are members.

As an active member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), Việt Nam is ready to serve as a bridge to help Uzbekistan expand cooperation with ASEAN, AIPA, and other member parliaments, Mẫn affirmed, calling on Uzbekistan to support ASEAN’s and Việt Nam’s stances on peacefully addressing disputes in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) based on international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Senate President agreed with the Vietnamese top legislator’s proposal to pay attention to, and support the Vietnamese community living, studying, and doing business in the country to stabilise their lives and contribute more to its development, as well as the friendship between the two nations.

Mẫn took the occasion to invite Narbaeva to visit Việt Nam. The latter thanked Mẫn for his invitation and confirmed that a delegation comprising representatives from both the Senate and the Legislative Chamber will soon visit and work in Việt Nam.

Following the talks, the two countries' parliament leaders signed a Cooperation Agreement between the parliaments of Việt Nam and Uzbekistan. — VNS

Commemorative photo at the Uzbekistan Senate building. — VNA/VNS Photo