Ankara (VNA) – Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen ThiKim Ngan had a meeting on October 11 (local time) with Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan, during which she affirmed that Vietnam always treasures thefriendship and all-round cooperation with the South Europe- Middle East, includingTurkey as its leading economic partner in the region.

Congratulating the Turkish Grand National Assembly for successfully organisingthe third Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments (MSEAP 3), theVietnamese top legislator spoke highly of Turkey’s national construction anddevelopment which helps the country enter the world’s top 20 economies.

She said that her visit to Turkey aims to bolster and deepen the traditionalfriendship and cooperation between the two countries in general and the twoparliaments in particular.

Briefing the Turkish State leader on Vietnam’s socio-economic development andits foreign policy of active international integration, NA Chairwoman Ngan saidthat Vietnam stands ready to act as a bridge to enhance relations betweenTurkey and the ASEAN bloc.

Vietnam and Turkey have enjoyed fruitful ties in the past 40 years, withcooperation extended in various sectors, she said, urging joint effort to liftthe two-way trade to 4 billion USD by 2020.

Aboutthe outcomes of her talks with Speaker of the Turkish Grand National AssemblyBinali Yildirim, the Vietnamese top legislator said that she and her Turkishcounterpart had agreed to enhance the exchange of delegations at all levels,coordinate to supervise the implementation of the bilateral agreements, andwork to create favourable conditions for cooperation, exchange and citizenprotection activities.

Sheasked the Turkish President to support the two parliaments’ cooperation andcoordination at multilateral parliamentary forums.

Chairwoman Ngan suggested to the Turkish President that the two countriesshould boost trade and transport collaboration, especially in navigation,shipbuilding and exchange of maritime technology and technique.

She also recommended strengthening partnership in security-defence,science-technology, culture, education and training, and people-to-peopleexchange.

The Turkish President expressed his delight to welcome Ngan, the first leaderof the Vietnamese NA to visit Turkey, at a time when the two countries arecelebrating 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations. He noted thatthis was an important milestone in the bilateral relations.

Discussing with Ngan regional and international issues of mutual interests,President Erdogan said that Turkey supports settlement of disputes in the EastSea by peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

He informed Ngan that he had a plan to visit Vietnam this year with severalenterprises to enhance trade and economic cooperation, and hoped that a freetrade agreement (FTA) will be inked between the two countries on the occasion.

The President affirmed that cooperation with Vietnam offers opportunities forTurkey to further collaboration with the ASEAN member states. Turkey recentlysigned FTA with Malaysia and Singapore, he added.-VNA