Vietnam’s parliament resolved to bolster ties with Myanmar
National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has said her visit to Myanmar aims to show the Vietnamese parliament’s resolve to reinforce the traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries and legislative bodies.
She made the remark at a meeting on September 29 with Speaker of the Upper House of Myanmar’s parliament, Mahn Win Khaing Than, following the welcome ceremony at the Myanmar parliament’s headquarters in Nay Pyi Taw.
She congratulated Myanmar on the successful general election last November and on completing the final step in the seven-step roadmap for national building. She voiced the belief that with the new leadership, it will become a prosperous country with higher stature in the international arena.
Vietnam and Myanmar boast a time-honoured amity, the Chairwoman said, noting that Myanmar is one of the first Southeast Asian nations to set up diplomatic ties with Vietnam. It strongly supported her country during the struggle for national liberation, and Vietnam always keeps in mind that valuable assistance.
She lauded the countries’ effective cooperation in defence-security, economics, trade, investment, culture and tourism. There are now 11 Vietnamese-invested projects with a total registered capital of almost US$700 million in Myanmar.
To enhance collaboration, she asked the two parliaments to urge their Government agencies to implement important cooperation mechanisms, including organising the ninth meeting of the joint committee for bilateral cooperation in 2016.
Ngan rejoiced at the sound development of the two parliaments’ relations, asking them to continue coordination in supervision to ensure that the countries’ cooperation agreements are implemented effectively.
They should increase sharing experience, particularly in institution building, lawmaking, and supervision over law enforcement. She also asked the Myanmar parliament to continuously consider and support necessary revisions to mechanisms, policies and laws so as to boost trade and investment partnership.
Echoing the view, the Myanmar Speaker said their parliaments need to promote delegation exchanges to learn from each other’s experience and improve the capacity of parliamentarians.
He spoke highly of Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements, adding that the two nations share many similarities and his country wants to learn more about Vietnam’s reform experience.
The Myanmar parliament is adapting some legal documents to the current socio-economic situation and building new laws. It is also considering revising investment-related laws so as to attract foreign investment, including that from Vietnam, he added.
At the meeting, Chairman Ngan said Vietnam is ready to help Myanmar fulfill the duties of the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2017. She also delivered the invitation to visit Vietnam to the Myanmar Speaker, who accepted with pleasure.
