NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong and Vice Speaker of the State Duma of Russia Olga Epifanova with delegates at their meeting on the sidelines of the AIPA 38 in Manila, the Philippines, September 16. (Credit: VNA)

The NA official made the statement at a meeting with Vice Speaker of the State Duma of Russia Olga Epifanova on the sidelines of the 38th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 38) in Manila, the Philippines, on September 16.

The bilateral strategic partnership has been reinforced over the years, Phong noted, adding that Vietnam and Russia’s Parties, Governments, parliaments and people have been actively promoting their relations, while cooperative ties are expanding across the fields of economics, science-technology, cultural exchanges, education, military and defence and security.

Notably, the two countries’ parliaments have shared experience in law-making and inspections and have supported each other at international forums, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), and the AIPA.

The NA Vice Chairwoman suggested that the two sides boost high-level delegation exchanges to increase their mutual understanding and share know-how in parliamentary activities, in addition to promoting consultative mechanisms and coordination at multilateral forums such as the IPU, APPF and AIPA.

She informed the Russian side that Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will attend the 137th IPU Assembly in Russia this October.

For her part, Olga Epifanova called on the two nations’ parliamentary committees to increase experience sharing and people-to-people exchanges.

She confirmed she will visit Vietnam to attend the 26th Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26) in January 2018.

The Duma Vice Speaker also suggested educating younger generations about the traditional ties between Vietnam and Russia.