Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam always attaches importance to developingfriendship and cooperative ties with the Federated States of Micronesia, saidChairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan during her talks with Speaker of the Micronesian Congress Wesley W. Simina in Hanoi on June 5.

Speaking highly of the sound political ties between the two nations in the pasttime, particularly after they set up diplomatic relations on September 22,1995, the top legislator thanked the Federated States of Micronesia forsupporting Vietnam’s bid to become a non-permanent member of the United NationsSecurity Council for the 2008-2009 tenure.

As thetwo nations hold huge potential to develop cooperative ties in the fields of economy,trade, investment, culture, and tourism, they should ink cooperation deals inthe fields of their strengths, she suggested.

Ngan noted that mutual support to deal with consequences of natural disasters arevivid illustration for the friendship between the two countries.

In the context of complex developments of the regional and internationalsituation, Vietnam and the Federated States of Micronesia should coordinate andsupport each other at regional and multilateral forums and organisations,especially the United Nations, she stressed.

For his part, Simina appraised the importance of relations with Vietnam,stating that the ongoing visit to the Southeast Asian country affirms theFederated States of Micronesia’s commitment to bolstering bilateral relations,particularly when the two countries are celebrating the 23rd foundinganniversary of diplomatic ties.

The bilateral parliamentary diplomacy has been promoted in recent years, hesaid, lauding Vietnam’s proactive participation in and hosting of the 132nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 2015 and the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum in 2018.

He underlined that the Micronesian Government and Congress will do their utmostto accelerate cooperation with Vietnam in agriculture, aquaculture and tourism.

Currently, small businesses of the Federated States of Micronesia areinterested in landing investment in Vietnam, he said, adding that both nationsare enjoying fruitful cooperation in environmental and climate change issues.

The Vietnamese NA leader affirmed that Vietnam always backs the FederatedStates of Micronesia as well as other South Pacific island countries infostering relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),thus opening up new cooperation prospects and interest for ASEAN as well asregional countries.

She suggested that the Federated States of Micronesiasupport Vietnam’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat at the United NationsSecurity Council in the 2020-2021 tenure.

Affirming that both Vietnam and theFederated States of Micronesia are coastal countries, Ngan held that the EastSea issue is the shared interest of all countries, while highlighting Vietnam’sgoodwill and constant policy of maintaining friendship with all regionalcountries, and dealing with disputes in the East Sea through peaceful measuresin line with international law, the UN Charter and the UN Convention on the Lawof the Sea 1982 as well as other regional commitments.

Regarding the relationship between the twoparliaments, both sides showed their delight at the growth of bilaterallegislative cooperation both bilaterally and at multilateral parliamentaryforums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Asia-PacificParliamentary Forum (APPF).

On the occasion, Ngan lauded Simina’s roleas the Chair of the Asia-Pacific Group at the 138th Assembly of theIPU in Geneva, Switzerland, from March 24-28. During the event, participantswelcomed the report by Vietnam in the role of a member of the IPU ExecutiveCommittee.

She proposed that in the coming time, thetwo sides should increase the exchange of high-ranking delegations andpeople-to-people exchanges, while setting up mechanisms of cooperation andnegotiation, heading to the signing of agreements on investment protection anddouble-tax avoidance as well as in technical cooperation.

Besides, the two sides should promotetrading in agricultural products, consumer goods and agricultural machineries.

The Vietnamese top legislator stated thatVietnam can share its experience with the Federated States of Micronesia ingrowing rice and industrial crops, ensuring food security, processingindustrial trees’ products, infrastructure construction and tourismdevelopment.

She said that Vietnam has dozens ofthousands of fishing vessels as well as experience in aquaculture, which are agreat advantage in boosting cooperation with the Federated States ofMicronesia, a country owning giant territorial waters.-VNA