Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with Estonian Parliament President Lauri Hussar

Hussar welcomed Prime Minister Pham on the latter's first official visit to Estonia and affirmed Viet Nam is one of major partners of Estonia in Southeast Asia.

Pham expressed his pleasure to visit Estonia, conveyed greetings from General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong and Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man to the President of the Estonian Parliament.

Pham appreciated Estonia's support and assistance for Viet Nam's past struggle for national liberation and unification and the current national development course.

He hailed Estonia as the pioneering country in entrepreneurship and a model for innovation, e-government, digital economy and digital society, calling on Estonia to share experience with Viet Nam in these fields.

Pham suggested both sides soon establish a parliamentary friendship group to step up the exchange of specific measures to enhance political trust and mutual understanding.

The Vietnamese leader called on Estonia to support and promote the establishment of a joint committee for bilateral economi, scientific, technological and innovation cooperation, as well as the ratification of the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) in order to inject new momentum for bilateral trade and investment cooperation.

President Hussar highly valued the relations between Viet Nam and Estonia in general and between the two parliaments in particular, expressing his belief that the fine relationship between the two countries would be a catalyst to further motivate ASEAN-EU cooperation in the coming time.

Both sides agreed to promote dialogue mechanisms and delegation exchanges while enhancing cooperation and sharing of information and experience in various areas, including law-making. The two sides also agreed to support each other at inter-parliamentary fora.

The two leaders compared notes on several regional and international issues of common concern. Regarding the East Sea issue, both sides underscored the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea on the basis of respect for littoral countries in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; of settling disputes through peaceful means in line with international law, and avoiding threat or use of force.

Pham took the occasion to convey Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man's invitation to the President of the Estonian Parliament to visit Viet Nam./.