Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân attended the opening ceremony of the third Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments (MSEAP 3) in Antalya on Tuesday.— VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

ANTALYA, Turkey — Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân attended the opening ceremony of the third Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments (MSEAP 3) in Antalya on Tuesday.

The event, themed “Economic Co-operation, Environment and Sustainable Development in Eurasia,” attracted the participation of 40 parliamentary delegations.

At the opening, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that Eurasian parliamentary co-operation played a very important role in promoting co-operation and friendship for peace, stability and democracy among countries in the region and the world as a whole, particularly in the context of unpredictable changes in the global situation. 

Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Binali Yildirim said the MSEAP 3 aimed to find solutions for global challenges, which would be a difficult task but he believed it could be done with the co-operation of parliaments of countries in the region. 

He names some of the challenges as environmental pollution, war, poverty, disease, terrorism, natural disasters, trade protectionism, food security, among others.          

As co-chair of MSEAP3 along with Turkey and Russia, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Moon Hee-sang said MSEAP member parliaments should share law-making experience and professional knowledge for the common prosperity of Eurasia. He underlined that the proactive sharing of information would help parliaments quickly find effective solutions to problems facing countries. 

Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin expressed the hope that the meeting would discuss economic, humanitarian and peace issues on the basis of non-interference into each other’s internal affairs and respect for member countries’ sovereignty and rules. 

He said it was time to promote more discussion among Eurasian parliaments.  

Chairwoman Ngân was to deliver a speech at the first plenary session the same day.

MSEAP is a Eurasian parliamentary co-operation mechanism initiated by the Chairman of the State Duma of Russia and the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. The annual meeting offers a chance for legislative bodies in the region to coordinate for action and improve the role of parliamentary diplomacy. The final document of MSEAP is the Joint Statement signed by heads of the participating delegations. 

On Monday, Ngân met with Duma chairman Volodin, expressing her belief that MSEAP 3 would be a success and the mechanism would continue to be held in the future.

Regarding Việt Nam-Russia relations, both Ngân and Volodin agreed that the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership were developing well.

Ngân told Volodin that Việt Nam was preparing for his official visit slated for later this year, during which both sides would have in-depth discussions on how to deepen relations between the two nations and parliaments as well as issues of mutual concern.

Volodin reiterated proposals made by Vice Chairwoman of the State Duma Olga Epifanova during her working session with Ngân in Hà Nội in late September, including an initiative to set up a bilateral inter-parliamentary committee.

He stressed the need for the two countries to lift bilateral ties to a new height, create a mechanism to solve issues related to their citizens and work together to raise two-way trade. — VNS