Speaker of Algerian National People’S Assembly Abdelaziz Ziari (retranslated): Mr President, please allow me — on behalf of all the people’s deputies and on behalf of the National People’s Assembly that I chair, to congratulate you and wish you success on your visit.
The friendly ties between our peoples have been marked by the most difficult periods of our history. The Russian people have always supported our nation’s fight for independence, and we have always found Russia to offer continuous, consistent, and decisive support.
Political systems may change, but people remain. This support and friendship are part of the long-standing relations between our nations. And I am certain that this contributes greatly to our cooperation.
I had the pleasure and honour of visiting your nation at Boris Gryzlov’s invitation. I visited the State Duma and spoke with many parliamentary leaders. I also had the pleasure of visiting your home city of St Petersburg. I met with its mayor and feel that it was a good occasion to strengthen our parliamentary ties.
President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Mr Speaker, I am also happy to meet with you and I am certain that this visit will promote not only our intergovernmental contacts, but also inter-parliamentary relations.
You have indeed visited our nation and maintain good contacts with our lower chamber, the State Duma, and you have met with Mr Gryzlov. Your delegation visited Russia, and now ours must come here, to Algeria. Inter-parliamentary ties do not just involve dialogue between legislators; they also represent an opportunity to exchange views on a wide range of issues in bilateral relations and on international agenda.
Modern life is impossible without this type of communication, especially since we are dealing with the same challenges. Even our economies are structured in a similar way. We have large deposits of hydrocarbons. This is good, but it also causes certain problems. We need to develop other sectors of the economy. Thus, a great deal depends on state regulation and the laws that are passed by parliament. It also predetermines the value of inter-parliamentary dialogue.