Hanoi (VNA) – Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngansuggested the Vietnamese and Latvian legislatures increase the exchange ofall-level delegations at a reception for Latvian Foreign Minister EdgarsRinkevics in Hanoi on July 17.

TheVietnamese NA will continue its close coordination with the Latvian Parliament(Saeima) at regional and international parliamentary forums to which both aremembers like the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), while maintaining meetings onthe sidelines of multilateral forums and discussions on regional and internationalissues of shared concern, Ngan said.

Thetop legislator asked Edgars Rinkevics to convey her invitation to the Latvian Parliament’sSpeaker to pay an official visit to Vietnam.

Sheexpressed belief that the Latvian Foreign Minister’s visit will contribute todeepening the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countriesin a practical and effective way.

Nganthanked Latvia for supporting Vietnam’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat atthe UN Security Council for 2020-2021 and called for more support andcoordination from the country during performing the post.

Vietnamis Latvia’s biggest trade partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) while Latvia is Vietnam’s largest Baltic trade partner, with two-waytrade reaching 187.2 million USD in 2018 and 88.9 million USD in the first fivemonths of this year.

However,the bilateral trade has yet to match the fruitful political and diplomatic tiesas well as cooperation potential of the two countries, she said.

Thetop legislator said the Vietnam-Latvia business conference and trade andinvestment promotion activities held during the visit have created cooperationand business opportunities for enterprises of the two countries.

Mentioningthe EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam InvestmentProtection Agreement (EVIPA), she said the deals would bring about practical benefitsto not only the Vietnam-EU cooperation but also the economic, trade andinvestment ties between Vietnam and Latvia.

Nganappealed to the Latvian Government to create more favourable conditions for theVietnamese community to stabilise their lives and run business in the country.

Forhis part, Edgars Rinkevics suggested the Vietnamese and Latvian legislaturesstep up their partnership and soon establish a friendly parliamentarians’ groupin each country.

Theminister told his host that Vietnam and Latvia are considering the signing of anagreement on labour cooperation, and expressed his hope for stronger bilateraltrade and investment ties.

Lativawill make all-out efforts to urge the European Parliament to soon ratify theEVFTA and the Latvian Parliament to pass the EVIPA, he said.

Thetwo sides touched upon regional and international issues of shared concern,including the East Sea issue.-VNA