Geneva (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador Le Thi TuyetMai on July 9 met with Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)Martin Chungong and handed over medical masks which are a gift from thecountry’s National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan for the IPUSecretariat.

During the meeting at the IPU headquarters inGeneva (Switzerland), Ambassador Mai, who is head of Vietnam’s permanentmission to the UN, the World Trade Organisation and other internationalorganisations there, affirmed that the Vietnamese NA attaches importance to theIPU’s role and activities in promoting parliamentary diplomacy.

It also highly values the Secretary General’scontributions to the IPU, especially the IPU Secretariat’s activities tosupport the implementation of the union’s strategies and programmes and enhancethe IPU-UN cooperation and partnership, thereby helping to promotingparliaments and parliamentarians’ role and voice in international affairs, shesaid.

She noted that despite COVID-19-induceddifficulties, Vietnam has still been making efforts to fulfil its role as Chairof ASEAN and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

Mai also conveyed NA Chairwoman Ngan’sinvitation to Secretary General Chungong to attend the online conference onAIPA parliamentary partnership for cultural and educational cooperation forsustainable development, which will be held by the Vietnamese NA on July 30.

The diplomat expressed her honour to, on behalfof the Vietnamese NA leader, present Vietnamese-made medical face masks to theIPU Secretary General and Secretariat to assist anti-COVID-19 efforts, sayingthe small gift represents the Vietnamese NA’s solidarity and cooperation withthe IPU Secretariat.

At the meeting, Chungong spoke highly ofconnections between the IPU and the Vietnamese NA while applauding enormousachievements that the Vietnamese parliament has obtained not only in thecountry, but also in contributing to regional and international parliamentarydiplomacy.

He said he is impressed with Vietnam’sdevelopment in different aspects over the past years, including the successfulorganisation of the 132nd IPU Assembly in 2015 and the realisation ofcommitments in the union’s 2015 Hanoi Declaration.

Appreciating the gift from the Vietnameseparliament, he also confirmed his participation in the coming conference hostedby the NA.

Ambassador Mai affirmed that it is an honour forher and Vietnam’s permanent mission in Geneva to serve as a bridge promotingcooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the IPU. They will keep workingclosely with the IPU Secretariat to step up cooperation activities between theunion and the Vietnamese parliament./.