PARLIAMENT OF MALAYSIA, 8 August 2015 -- Vietnamese Prime Minister, Hon. Nguyen Tan Dung's courtesy call to Parliament of Malaysia on Saturday, marks the first visit by a visiting premier to the highest legislative authority in the country. Speaker of the House of Representatives, H.E. Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said he was honoured by the visit as Nguyen was the first Prime Minister to have done so since the Parliament was established 50 years ago.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, H.E. Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Pandikar Amin Mula (right) shaking hands with Prime Minister of Vietnam First Premier, Hon. Nguyen Tan Dung at Parliament Building.
 

"I was surprised by his visit. It was unlikely for any Prime Minister to visit the Parliament," he said after holding a 30-minute meeting with Hon. Nguyen Tan Dung at the Parliament building. Nguyen arrived on Thursday for a two-day official visit to Malaysia.

Pandikar said Nguyen's visit could possibly be attributed to his position as the president of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), in which AIPA held a meeting during the ASEAN summit earlier this year and delivered a speech representing all ASEAN Countries’ Speakers of Parliament.

Pandikar said for a presidential country like Vietnam, the Speaker also holds executive power. On bilateral matters, he said Nguyen had expressed his concern over residence issues of 6,000 Vietnamese women, who were married to Malaysian men and illegal fishing committed by Vietnamese fishermen, who accidentally entered the Malaysian waters due to the poor sea-navigation equipment.

"I told him I would extend the matters to those who have the executive power," he said adding that Nguyen had offered an invitation for him to visit Vietnam. During Nguyen's visit, Malaysia and Vietnam had agreed on a tripartite joint venture (JV) with Thailand to explore and develop oil and gas (O&G) resources in the region.

Prime Minister, Hon. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Putrajaya on Friday said that bilateral trade between Vietnam and Malaysia is expected to reach US$10 billion (RM39 billion) this year. Currently, there are 60,000 Vietnamese workers in Malaysia.