Vietnamese NA Permanent Vice Chairwoman Tòng Thị Phóng (r) meets with Secretary General of the IPU Martin Chungong in Belgrade, Serbia.— VNA/VNS Photo Trần Hiếu

BELGRADE — Vietnamese NA Permanent Vice Chairwoman Tòng Thị Phóng had separate meetings on Sunday with officials of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Myanmar’s parliament on the sidelines of the 141st Assembly of the IPU (IPU-141) in Belgrade, Serbia.

In the meeting with Secretary General of the IPU Martin Chungong, the Vietnamese legislator praised his important role and contributions to the IPU, especially in reforming activities of the union’s Secretariat and enhancing cooperation between the IPU and the UN towards promoting the role and voice of parliaments and parliamentarians in international issues.

She stressed that as a responsible member of IPU and with its experience, Việt Nam will participate in all conferences, topics and fields to contribute to the success of the IPU-141 Assembly.

The participation in IPU activities is an important task in the Vietnamese NA’s multilateral diplomacy activities to promote and protect Việt Nam's interests, express the country’s views on issues of global interest, thus contributing to improving the position of Việt Nam and its NA in the international arena.

Through this forum, Việt Nam can access experience and good practices of parliaments around the world, Phóng said, adding that Việt Nam hopes to continue receiving support of the IPU Secretary General in the process.

Việt Nam is committed to implementing plans and action programmes for the sake of sustainable development, towards improving material and spiritual life of the people, Phóng said.

Chungong said he always supports Việt Nam because it is one of the countries that always show strong responsibility and commitment to IPU’s programmes and action plans. 

He highlighted the fruitful cooperation between IPU and the Vietnamese NA, saying that the Hanoi Declaration adopted by the IPU-132 in Hà Nội in 2015 themed “Sustainable Development Goals: Turning Words into Action” is one of the directions for implementing the IPU's action plans.

The IPU will continue to support and closely coordinate with Việt Nam to effectively implement the union’s programmes and action plans, he affirmed.

Meeting with Than Win, chairperson of the International Relations Committee of the Myanmar Parliament, the Vietnamese NA vice chairwoman congratulated Myanmar on its socio-economic achievements in recent years.

She affirmed that Việt Nam always supports and believes that Myanmar will successfully carry out national reconciliation, thus bringing prosperous development to the country. 

She also underlined the development of the ties between the two countries’ legislative bodies in recent times, including their close coordination at international and regional parliament forums, especially in the framework of the IPU and the ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

She proposed a cooperation channel between the groups of female parliamentarians of the two nations, and sharing of experience between the external relations committees of the two legislative bodies.

Phóng said in 2020, Việt Nam will assume the roles of a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the term 2020-21, Chair of the ASEAN and Chair of the AIPA 41 for 2019-20, and asked the Government and the Parliament of Myanmar to support Việt Nam to fulfil these important roles.

She asked Myanmar to support the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law.

Phóng conveyed Vietnamese NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân’s invitation to the Speaker of Myanmar’s Parliament to attend the AIPA 41 General Assembly which will be held in Việt Nam in August 2020.

In reply, Than Win hoped that Việt Nam will continue to support Myanmar's process of national reconciliation. 

Regarding measures to promote cooperation between the two countries’ parliaments, he promised to report to the leader of Myanmar Parliament to consider the establishment of a cooperation channel between the groups of female parliamentarians of the two nations and the two parliaments’ external relations committees. — VNS