Politburo member and permanent member of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) Central Committee’s Secretariat Le Hong Anh has voiced pleasure at the cooperation between Viet Nam’s National Assembly and the Russian State Duma over the past time.

Politburo member Le Hong Anh meets with First Vice Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Ivan Ivanovich Melnikov. Photo: VNA

At a meeting with visiting First Vice Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Ivan Ivanovich Melnikov in Hanoi on December 23, Anh said Viet Nam always attaches importance to developing the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia.

He said he hopes the Russian legislative body will help speed up the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Viet Nam and the Russia-Kazhastan-Belarus Customs Union, and the implementation of agreements signed earlier by the two countries’ leaders.

Anh also spoke about receiving the State Duma’s support for cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, as well as the creation of favourable conditions for the Vietnamese people living in the country.

For his part, Melnikov, who is also First Vice President of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), affirmed that KPRF, together with other political parties in the State Duma, always support their government’s policy to strengthen traditional ties and comprehensive strategic partnership with Viet Nam and Russia and will work to make the ties more practical and effective.

The same day, Melnikov held a meeting with Dao Trong Thi, President of the Viet Nam-Russia Friendship Parliamentarians Group.

Speaking highly of Russia’s ratification of a labour agreement to protect the rights of the two countries’ labours, Thi urged the two sides to design a mechanism to implement the agreement, laying a legal foundation to labour exports in the coming time.

Both sides agreed to work effectively to develop the bilateral relations, step up cultural exchanges, especially educate the young generations to honour and nurture these special ties.

They also reached a consensus on promoting cooperation in tourism, trade and investment between localities, as well as in education-training and youth exchanges.

(Source: VNA)