NA leader optimistic about fruitful Vietnam-Turkey cooperation

At the talks, the top Vietnamese legislator congratulated Turkey on the successful hosting of the third Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments (MSEAP 3), saying the organization indicates Turkey’s rising position as well as its legislature in the region and the world as a whole.

With regard to Turkey’s successful organization of the presidential and parliamentary elections last June, Ngan voiced her hope that with his experience in the political filed, Binali Yildirim will lead the Grand National Assembly to fulfill all tasks assigned by Turkish people and voters.

Ngan affirmed Vietnam’s external policy of being a friend and a reliable partner of all the countries in the world community, emphasizing that the country’s international integration continues to be promoted and has yielded important results.

Vietnam successfully organized the APEC Year in 2017 and the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF 26) early 2018, and the World Economic Forum (WEF) on ASEAN 2018 (WEF ASEAN 2018) recently.

She assured Vietnam’s recognition of high importance to consolidating and developing friendship and all-around cooperation with countries in South Europe and the Middle East, including Turkey – a leading economic partner of Vietnam in the region. In 2018, the two countries have organised various activities to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Binali Yildirim (R)

She thanked Turkey for its commitment to supporting Vietnam’s bid to run for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term, and wished Turkey would continue supporting Vietnam at regional and international forums.

Vietnam welcomes and stands ready to act as a bridge enhancing ties between Turkey and ASEAN, she noted.

The Vietnamese NA leader also urged both sides to intensify delegation exchange at all levels to strengthen solidarity and deepen mutual understanding. She also asked Turkey to soon recognize Vietnam as a market economy and remove protectionism measures and anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese exports.

For his part, the Turkish Speaker highlighted the significance of the Vietnamese NA leader’s visit to Turkey as it takes place in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations.

He praised the sound development of the political ties between Vietnam and Turkey while calling both sides to reinforce legislative ties, noting that the friendship parliamentarians’ groups play an important role in boosting the legislative relations.

Extolling the two governments’ coordination in carrying out a number of agreements signed during his official visit to Vietnam as the Prime Minister of Turkey 14 months ago, Yildirim said trade between the two countries is flourishing, but unbalanced. He hence underlined the need to implement projects to improve the situation with the aim of elevating the bilateral trade value to US$4 billion by the end of 2020.

During the talks, the two parliamentary leaders exchange views on global and regional issues of shared concern, including the East Sea issues. They agreed that maintaining peace, stability, security and aviation and navigation safety in the waters is of mutual benefit to all countries.

The Turkish Speaker said he backed the settlement of disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means on the basis of respect for the international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Vietnamese NA leader used the occasion to invite her Turkish counterpart to make an official visit to Vietnam in the future.

The same day, NA Chairwoman Ngan and her delegation laid a wreath at the tomb of Kemal Mustafa Ataturk, the first President of Turkey.