Vientiane (VNA) – Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA) Nguyen Thi Thanh met with her Armenian counterpart Hakob Arshakyan on October 19 in Vientiane on the sidelines of the 45th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-45).

At the meeting, Thanh conveyed the greetings and best wishes from NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man and other leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam to the Armenian official, and affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to the traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with Armenia.

She said that Vietnam always remembers the wholehearted support and assistance that the Armenian people have given to Vietnam during the struggle for national liberation and reunification and in subsequent years of national reconstruction.

For his part, Vice President of the Armenian NA Arshakyan emphasised that since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992, their cooperation has kept developing bilaterally and multilaterally. He affirmed that Armenia always attaches importance to and wishes to continue to expand and deepen relations with Vietnam.

He informed that Armenia has established the Armenia-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians Group and hopes that the Vietnam will soon establish the Vietnam-Armenia Friendship Parliamentarians Group to enhance their parliamentary exchanges.

He added that as Armenia has not had a representative office in Vietnam, Armenia wishes the two countries will set up their representative offices in each country, consider a visa exemption mechanism between the two countries and launch direct flights to enhance exchanges and cooperation in the fields of trade, investment and tourism.

Emphasising Armenia's position as a bridge between the two continents of Asia and Europe, Arshakyan said that the cooperation between Armenia and Vietnam will strongly contribute to the development of the two countries and the region.

Thanh said that the bilateral trade between Vietnam and Armenia saw positive signals but has not commensurated with the great potential of the two countries’ relationship.

She affirmed that the Vietnamese NA supports the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries and wishes to promote comprehensive cooperation between the two NAs.

She suggested that in the coming time, the two sides further strengthen delegation exchanges through the Party, Government and NA. Particularly, the Vietnamese NA hopes to welcome the President of the Armenian NA to pay an official visit to Vietnam this November.

On this occasion, Tha♏nh invited the Vice President of the Armenian NA to pay an offi𒈔cial visit to Vietnam in the coming time./.