Towards elevating Vietnam-Poland relations to a strategic level

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked Polish parliamentarians and the Polish National Assembly to continue supporting the promotion of richer and deeper bilateral relations, aiming to elevate bilateral relations to a strategic level.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh receives the leader of the Poland-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

According to the special correspondent of VNA, within the framework of his official visit to Poland, at noon on January 17 (local time), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received the Poland-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians' Group.

At the reception, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sincerely thanked the leaders of the State, Government, National Assembly and the Poland-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians' Group for the thoughtful, respectful and warm welcome given to the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation; leaving deep impressions of a beautiful, developed and hospitable Poland.

Recounting specific stories, characters, actions, and events, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh thanked the Polish people for their valuable assistance to Vietnam during the past struggle for national independence and unification and the current national construction and development, most recently Poland's provision of 1.4 million doses of vaccine and nearly 8 tons of medical equipment to Vietnam to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh thanked the Polish parliamentarians for their warm and close sentiments towards the delegation; affirmed that the purpose of the visit was to create a turning point to strongly promote the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries in all fields, while further tightening the friendship between the Vietnamese and Polish peoples.

Sharing with parliamentarians the results of the discussion between the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda during the visit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked parliamentarians and the Polish National Assembly to continue supporting the promotion of richer and deeper bilateral relations, aiming to elevate bilateral relations to a strategic level; supporting the effective implementation of agreements between the two governments, turning potential into specific cooperation projects that benefit the people of the two countries, including the establishment of an Intergovernmental Committee between the two countries; supporting, assisting and promoting businesses of the two countries to strengthen investment cooperation, soon achieving two-way trade turnover of 5 billion USD.

Informing that Vietnam supports Poland in signing a cooperation agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hopes that the Polish Parliamentarians' Group and the Polish National Assembly will promote parliamentary cooperation and act as a bridge between Vietnam and the European Parliament; Poland will ratify the Vietnam-European Union Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), as well as support the European Commission (EC) to soon remove the yellow card on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing for Vietnam's seafood exports.

With Vietnam having exempted ordinary visas for Polish citizens entering Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also proposed that Poland consider exempting visas for Vietnamese official passport holders entering Poland, while creating more favorable conditions for granting visas to Vietnamese people entering Poland; supporting and promoting the recognition of the Vietnamese community in Poland as a Polish ethnic minority.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed the invitation of the Chairman of the Vietnam-Poland Friendship Parliamentary Group to visit Vietnam; hoping that the Friendship Parliamentary Groups of the two countries will strengthen cooperation and coordination even more closely.

Expressing their honor to meet the Prime Minister of Vietnam for the first time, Polish parliamentarians highly appreciated Vietnam's important socio-economic achievements and increasingly enhanced international position in recent years; emphasizing the similarities in history and starting points of the two countries in the process of reform, innovation and economic development.

The parliamentarians highly appreciated the results of cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries in recent times, especially the exchange of experience in law-making and supervision of governments at all levels in implementing national policies and major projects.

The MPs said that the Poland-Vietnam Parliamentary Group has the largest number in the Parliament and has representatives from all parties in Poland, but the MPs' perception of Vietnam is not different.

The parliamentarians affirmed their agreement with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s proposals, will promote the early ratification of the EVIPA Agreement, as well as support the EC to soon remove the IUU yellow card for Vietnam’s seafood exports; and support the recognition of the Vietnamese community in Poland as a Polish ethnic minority.

The two sides stressed the importance of increasing delegation exchanges, especially at high levels, through Party, State, Government, National Assembly channels and people-to-people exchanges; promoting cooperation between specialized committees of the National Assembly, as well as promoting the bridging role of the Friendship Parliamentarians' Groups of the two countries; and closely coordinating at inter-regional and international parliamentary forums./.

Source