President Lương Cường meets Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese President Lương Cường and his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Latif Rashid praised the progress of their countries’ long-standing friendship during a meeting in New York on the morning of Wednesday (local time).

The event took place on the sidelines of the High-Level General Debate of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and bilateral activities in the US.

President Cường affirmed that Việt Nam always treasures and wishes to strengthen multifaceted cooperation with Iraq, particularly in the areas of economy, trade, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

He proposed increasing delegation exchanges, especially business missions, to explore cooperation opportunities in potential sectors and boost access to the Halal market.

He also expressed his hope that Iraq will create favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to invest in areas aligned with Iraq’s reconstruction needs.

For his part, the Iraqi leader expressed admiration for Việt Nam’s achievements in national development, stressing that Iraq views Việt Nam as an important partner and wishes to advance cooperation in economy, trade, investment, water management, agriculture, and infrastructure development serving its reconstruction.

Both sides agreed to further improve the effectiveness of existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and consider the establishment of new ones and the signing of agreements in potential sectors.

On this occasion, the two leaders also consented to step up cooperation and mutual support at multilateral forums.

President Cường extended an invitation to President Abdul Latif Rashid to visit Việt Nam and attend the signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime in Hà Nội next month. — VNA/VNS