NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong (Source: VNA)During meetings with IPU President Saber Chowdhury and General Secretary MartinChungong in New York on the occasion of her ongoing working visit to the US, NAVice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong highlighted the fruitful cooperation between theIPU and the Vietnamese legislature in recent years.
She expressed her belief thatthe IPU will continue supporting its member parliaments for peace, democracy,cooperation and sustainable development.
As a responsible member of the IPU over the last 35 years, the Vietnamese NA hasactively joined all important meetings of the IPU for the union’s development,she noted.
Phong thanked President Saber Chowdhury and IPU members for electing Vietnam tothe IPU Steering Committee in 2016-2019.
The Vietnamese NA considers the participation in IPU’s activities a leadingtask in its multilateral parliamentary diplomatic activities in order topromote and protect Vietnam’s interests as well as show the country’s views onglobal concerns, she stressed.
This also offers good chances for Vietnam’s NA to access and learn experiencefrom IPU member parliaments, thus improving its operation quality, she added.
Phong further said that the Vietnamese NA is coordinating with the IPU in preparingfor a symposium of the IPU Asia-Pacific on implementing SDGs on climate changein May this year, before the 3rd session of the 14th NA.
For his part, Chowdhury spoke highly of contributions made by the Vietnamese NAto the IPU’s operations, saying that those are useful for the union.
He hoped the upcoming symposium will help promote the inclusion of SDGs inVietnam’s national action programmes.
Previously, at her meeting with President of the Senate of the Philippines Aquilino“Koko” Pimentel III, NA Vice President Phong reviewed positive results in therelations between the two countries in over the last four decades, saying thatshe believes that the bilateral ties will continue developing in a practicalmanner, focusing on boosting parliamentary cooperation and people-to-peopleexchange.
Regarding the East Sea issue, the two sides pledged to maintain and promotepeace, security, stability, navigation and aviation safety and freedom, and unimpededtrade in the region. They called on involved parties to exerciseself-restraint, not use force or threaten to use force, respect relevant diplomatic and legal progresses, and solve disputes bypeaceful measures in line with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
They reaffirmed support for the full and effective enforcement of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) in thewaters.
The Vietnamese legislator took the occasion to congratulate the Philippineson its position as the Chair of ASEAN and the 38th ASEANInter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 38), expressing her hope that the AIPA 38 in September will open a newperiod for the organisation after 40 years of formation and development.-VNA
VNA
