Tehran (VNA) – Chairman of the Vietnamese NationalAssembly (NA) Vuong Dinh Hue had talks with Speaker of the Iranian Islamic Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in Tehran onAugust 8, affirming that Vietnam always treasures the friendship andmultifaceted cooperation with Iran, one of its important partners in the MiddleEast.

The talks formed part of Hue’s official visitto Iran from August 8 to 10.

Expressing his delight at visiting Iran when the two countries are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, Hue noted with satisfactionthe progress in bilateral cooperation over the past years, particularly inpolitics - diplomacy, culture, and people-to-people exchanges.

Meanwhile, Qalibaf stated the Parliament and people of Iranalways attach importance to the further promotion of the friendship andmultifaceted ties with Vietnam, an important partner of his country in the Asia-Pacificregion.

He voiced his belief that cooperation between the two countries,as well as between the two parliaments, will record development breakthroughsin the coming time.

Discussing measures for improving cooperationeffectiveness, both leaders agreed that Vietnam and Iran will continueincreasing mutual visits at all levels, especially by senior leaders andofficials of economic-related sectors and localities. They also discussed stepping uppeople-to-people and cultural exchanges to strengthen friendship and mutual understanding.

They will enhance cooperation between their parliamentary agencies,parliamentary friendship groups, female parliamentarians, and youngparliamentarians. They also want to promote the role of the two parliaments in supervising and fosteringthe implementation of their countries’ agreements and commitments. The two countries will continue tocoordinate with and support each other at international forums, and wellprepare for the 10th meeting of the Vietnam - Iran Inter-GovernmentalCommittee in Hanoi.

In terms of economic affairs, they concurredin holding more events connecting the countries’ localities and enterprises so asto seek opportunities for business and investment partnerships, and createconditions for strong products of each country to enter each other’s markets.

Hue called on Iran to further import Vietnamese farm producesuch as rice, tea, peppercorn, coffee, and rubber, and also highlighted the readinessto help facilitate Iran’s export of dried fruit to Vietnam.

Both host and guest agreed to foster cooperation in customs and Halal product manufacturing. They alsoagreed to resume cooperation mechanisms between the two countries such as thejoint working board for banking cooperation and the working group on trade inorder to seek breakthrough measures for economic and trade links.

The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament said enterprises of hiscountry are paying more and more attention to the Vietnamese market. He highlyvalued the political stability and favourable investment and business climatein the Southeast Asian country, saying the Iranian side is ready to createoptimal conditions for the countries’ enterprises to partner with each other.

During the talks, the two leaders also looked into measures foraugmenting ties in other potential fields like science - technology, digital transformation,education - training, student exchanges, and tourism.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese NA Chairman invited his host topay an official visit to Vietnam. Qalibaf accepted the invitation with pleasure.

Hue also invited the Iranian Parliament to send a delegation tothe 9th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians in Hanoi thisSeptember.

Following the talks, the two leaders signed amemorandum of understanding on cooperation between the parliaments./.