Hanoi (VNA) – National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Nganhosted a reception on January 18 for President of the Senate ofMalaysia’s Parliament S. Vigneswaran M. Sanasee, who is in Hanoi toattend the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum(APPF-26).

Ngan affirmed that theMalaysian delegation’s participation in the meeting is a positive support forthe Vietnamese NA.

She said she is delighted atthe development of the bilateral relations, and suggested that the two sidescoordinate more closely to design specific cooperative programmes in order todeepen the bilateral strategic partnership and realise agreements reached byhigh-level leaders.

Vietnam wants to enhance itstrade ties with Malaysia and hopes Malaysia will boost cooperation with Vietnamin the labour field, Chairwoman Ngan said.

Hailing the MalaysianGovernment’s cooperation in issues related to fishermen and citizen protection,the Vietnamese top legislator asked Malaysian parliamentarians to help createfavourable conditions for Vietnamese people who are living and working in thecountry.

She took the occasion tothank Malaysia for its commitment to supporting Vietnam’s bid for a non-permanentseat in the United Nations Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure.

Ngan also called on strongercooperation between the both sides to build an environment of peace andstability in the region and consolidate ASEAN unity, especially in the fieldsof shared interests such as maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea andbuilding a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

She expressed her hope thatthe two legislative bodies will intensify collaboration at regional andinternational forums, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the AsiaPacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly(AIPA).

Senate President Sanasee shared his host assessment that the friendship andcomprehensive cooperation between Malaysia and Vietnam have been intensifiedand consolidated since they set up their diplomatic ties more than 40 yearsago, particularly the elevation of bilateral ties to a strategic partnership inAugust 2015.

He noted that two-way tradereached 8.2 billion USD in the first 10 months of 2017. Malaysia has run 562investment projects worth over 12 billion USD, ranking seventh among foreigninvestors in Vietnam.

Collaboration in culture,education, labour and sports has also expanded continuously, he said.

He proposed extending ties topotential fields such as tourism as more and more Malaysians are keen onvisiting Vietnam.

He stressed the need tomaintain meetings and visits between the two parliaments and their offices,improve the role of parliamentarians in tightening the bilateral ties, and stepup people-to-people exchanges.-VNA