Vietnamese, Macedonian legislatures seek stronger ties

Thứ Ba, 01/05/2018, 17:48
The Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) wants to intensify its friendship with the Macedonian Assembly in order to make it an important cooperative channel between the two countries, said NA Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu.
NA Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu (Source: VNA) 

Luu made the statement at his talks on April 30 with Vice Presidents of the Macedonian Assembly Goran Misovski and Frosina Tashevska-Remenski during his working visit to the European nation.

He stressed the need to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels to strengthen the legislative bodies’ cooperation as Vietnam and Macedonia are now only holding bilateral meetings between parliamentarians at multilateral parliamentary forums.

The Vietnamese lawmaker suggested the legislative bodies promote their role of supreme supervision, especially in fostering the effective implementation of signed agreements.

Luu took the occasion to affirm that Vietnam always attaches importance to consolidating and developing its relations with traditional friends, including Macedonia.

Although political and diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Macedonia have enjoyed positive development, economic and trade cooperation has remained modest, failing to match with potential of both nations, he said.

The official asked relevant ministries and sectors to support enterprises to seek collaboration opportunities, while urging for the early establishment of an Inter-Governmental Committee to foster bilateral cooperation in economy, trade and investment.

Misovski stated that the first visit to Macedonia by a high-level Vietnamese NA delegation will serve as a foundation to bolster the cooperation between the two countries in general and their legislatures in particular.

Macedonia considers the parliamentary diplomatic channel a lever to enhance ties with other countries, including Vietnam, he added.

During the talks, both sides also exchanged experience in making laws and promoting the role of the legislative bodies in conducting legislative tasks and supreme supervision.

On the same day, NA Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu had a meeting with Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov, during which he thanked Macedonia for backing Vietnam’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure, and affirmed that Vietnam supports Macedonia’s bid to join the European Union.

He also requested the Foreign Ministry of Macedonia to take measures to bring into full play cooperation potential in tourism.

Dimitrov said he wishes to boost cooperation with Vietnam in the fields that they have strengths such as agriculture and tourism.

He also proposed Vietnam soon open an embassy in Macedonia to serve as a bridge to boost bilateral ties.

Earlier, the Vietnamese NA Vice Chairman had a working session with representatives from the Macedonian Assembly’s Committee for Foreign Policy.

The Vietnamese NA delegation is scheduled to pay a working visit to Romania from May 2-5.
VNA