Creating new momentum, promoting comprehensive and substantive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos
VietnamPlus•22/10/2024
The Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee affirmed that the official visit to Laos and attendance at the 45th AIPA General Assembly by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man from October 17-19 was a great success. National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attends the 45th meeting of the Executive Committee of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-45). (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)
National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man led a high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly to successfully conclude an official visit to the Lao People's Democratic Republic and attend the 45th General Assembly of AIPA from October 17-19 at the invitation of Lao National Assembly Chairman and AIPA President Saysomphone Phomvihane. Speaking to the press accompanying the delegation, Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee Vu Hai Ha affirmed that the visit was a great success. Through the specific results achieved, the visit will certainly create new momentum, promoting comprehensive and substantive cooperation in all fields, especially economy, trade and investment, commensurate with the good political relations between Vietnam and Laos. -Sir, how do you evaluate the results of the official visit to the Lao People's Democratic Republic and attendance at the 45th General Assembly of AIPA by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly?Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Vu Hai Ha: This is the first visit of Comrade Tran Thanh Man as Chairman of the National Assembly to the Lao People's Democratic Republic and to attend the 45th AIPA General Assembly. Along with the State visit to Laos by President To Lam (July 2024) and the attendance of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related Summits in Laos (from October 8-11, 2024), the visit of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man continues to affirm the consistent policy of our Party and State of always attaching great importance to the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with Laos during the past struggle for national liberation and reunification as well as in the current cause of building and defending the Fatherland together. The visit of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man was highly appreciated by the Lao high-ranking leaders with special reception ceremonies. During the high-level talks, meetings and contacts with Lao General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, and Lao National Assembly Chairman Saysomphone Phomvihane, the two sides had in-depth, substantive and comprehensive discussions on measures to continue to strengthen and further tighten the special and rare, one-of-a-kind delegation relationship between the two Parties, two States and peoples of the two countries. Both sides agreed that on the basis of the very good political relationship and high political trust, along with the pillars of national defense and security that have achieved steady development in recent times, economic, trade and investment relations need to continue to be promoted more strongly. In particular, it is necessary to promote the effective implementation of cooperation projects between the two countries, contributing to the development of each country. Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Tran Thanh Man, Chairman of the Lao National Assembly and President of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Saysomphone Phomvihane and Chairman of the Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Khuon Sudary. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA) Regarding parliamentary cooperation, Lao leaders highly appreciated the cooperation between the two National Assemblies through the exchange and sharing of experiences in law-making, strengthening joint supervision of important and strategic economic cooperation projects, and organizing seminars on issues of mutual concern. The Lao side highly appreciated the experiences shared by Vietnam in seminars on constitutional amendments and law-making, serving the reform process of Laos as well as in building and perfecting institutions and implementing socio-economic development policies. The two sides agreed that these are very effective forms of cooperation and will continue to coordinate and implement them in the coming time. - Along with the official visit to Laos, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attended many important activities within the framework of the 45th AIPA General Assembly hosted by Laos. How do you evaluate the results of your participation in the 45th AIPA General Assembly this time?Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Vu Hai Ha: This is also the first time comrade Tran Thanh Man has attended an AIPA general assembly session as Chairman of the National Assembly. On the sidelines of the 45th AIPA General Assembly, the Chairman of the National Assembly also had bilateral meetings with Heads of Delegations of several member countries and AIPA Observers to discuss measures to continue promoting the implementation of ASEAN's plans and target programs, and strive to successfully build a united and strong ASEAN Community, towards the 10th anniversary of the founding of the ASEAN Community in 2025. True to the theme of this year's 45th AIPA General Assembly, "The role of Parliaments in enhancing ASEAN's connectivity and comprehensive growth," the host country Laos as well as AIPA member countries all hope that, through promoting connectivity in various fields, such as promoting infrastructure development, perfecting the legal framework on transportation, telecommunications, energy connectivity, etc., ASEAN countries need to strengthen regional connectivity, connectivity between economies, narrow the development gap, and expand relations with external partners. With such goals and expectations, the 45th AIPA General Assembly is of great significance in the overall joint efforts of ASEAN to realize the ASEAN Community Vision 2025. In particular, it demonstrates the commitment and efforts to transform the host country Laos from a landlocked country into a regional connectivity hub. - In the overall efforts and common goals, how has the Vietnamese delegation contributed to the 45th AIPA General Assembly, sir?Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Vu Hai Ha: Promoting the experience and results of participating in previous AIPA General Assemblies, within the framework of this 45th AIPA General Assembly, the Vietnamese delegation continues to proactively and actively coordinate early and from afar with Laos in the spirit of supporting Laos to successfully assume the role of ASEAN Chair and AIPA Chair 2024. National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man meets with Lao Vice President Pany Yathotou. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA) The Vietnamese delegation proposed initiatives/resolutions when participating in the AIPA Young Parliamentarians' Conference, the AIPA Women Parliamentarians' Conference and the meetings of the Social Committee and the Economic Committee. Through this, the role of the National Assembly/Parliament and parliamentarians in promoting socio-economic development, enhancing coordination in building national and regional mechanisms and policies, focusing on prioritizing the connection of transport networks. The Vietnamese delegation also considered co-sponsoring six other resolutions, including five proposed by Laos, one each by Indonesia, Laos and Malaysia. The content of these resolutions focuses on enhancing the role of the National Assembly/Parliament of AIPA member countries in promoting connectivity and harmonious development of ASEAN through political-security cooperation; promoting the role of the National Assembly/Parliament in promoting green capital mobilization for sustainable infrastructure development towards the ASEAN Community Vision after 2025; strengthening the attention of National Assemblies/Parliaments towards building a sustainable, connected and integrated ASEAN Community... Thus, in the total of more than 20 Resolutions of the AIPA-45 General Assembly expected to be adopted, the Vietnamese delegation has made specific contributions with 10 Resolutions. - Within the framework of the AIPA-45 General Assembly, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attended and spoke at the First Plenary Session. Could you tell us what the main message that the Chairman of our National Assembly sent to the General Assembly this time focused on?Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Vu Hai Ha: The content of the speech of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man expressed appreciation for the theme and organization of the host country Laos, and at the same time, based on the general theme of the AIPA General Assembly, the speech of the Chairman of our National Assembly focused on emphasizing the enhancement of connectivity and comprehensive growth according to the goals set by ASEAN. To realize this goal, the Chairman of our National Assembly suggested that it is necessary to review and evaluate the implementation of the 2025 Master Plans, deploy cooperation strategies until 2045; promote harmonious, sustainable, comprehensive, inclusive development, leaving no one behind; focus on and give appropriate priority to sub-regional cooperation, and narrow the development gap. In particular, AIPA needs to improve the effectiveness of cooperation in the legislative field, strengthen parliamentary diplomacy, and support and assist the Governments of the countries more effectively with feasible solutions to successfully implement the set goals, serving the development of ASEAN. - Thank you very much!
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