Welcoming the European Parliament Delegation to visit and work in Vietnam, the National Assembly Chairman highly appreciated the positive and important results in the Vietnam-EU relationship, as well as between Vietnam and member countries.
On the afternoon of June 19, at the National Assembly House, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue received the European Parliament (EP) delegation in charge of relations with Southeast Asian countries and ASEAN, led by Mr. Daniel Caspary, Chairman of the Group.
Welcoming the European Parliament Delegation to visit and work in Vietnam and having a successful meeting with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly; representatives of a number of Committees of the Vietnamese National Assembly, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue affirmed that Vietnam highly values and wishes to promote relations with the European Union (EU) - a leading important partner in Vietnam's foreign policy.
The National Assembly Chairman highly appreciated the positive and important results in the Vietnam-EU relationship (as well as between Vietnam and member countries) in a comprehensive manner on the pillars of politics, diplomacy; economics-trade-investment; agriculture-forestry-fishery; including defense-security cooperation; development cooperation; and human rights dialogue.
Vietnam always supports the strengthening of the ASEAN-EU strategic partnership. Vietnam and the Vietnamese National Assembly are ready to play an active role in this process.
Mr. Daniel Caspary sincerely thanked the Chairman of the National Assembly for taking the time to meet him and said that since 2015, there have been a number of visits and working sessions in Vietnam to further strengthen and consolidate the very good cooperative relationship between the two Parliaments/Assemblies.
Mr. Daniel Caspary shared the agenda with various topics with relevant agencies of Vietnam in the past time, reflecting the EP's interest in cooperating with the National Assembly as well as the competent agencies of Vietnam; including the cooperation mechanism in implementing the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA); cooperation in a number of areas within ASEAN with the EU-ASEAN having upgraded to a Strategic Partnership.
Emphasizing that both sides are going through an extremely difficult period due to COVID-19 and conflicts around the world, Mr. Daniel Caspary said that in that context, the relationship between the EU and Vietnam will play an increasingly important role.
During COVID-19, the two sides have witnessed growth in trade and investment cooperation, demonstrating the importance of the EVFTA.
Mr. Daniel Caspary expressed his hope that trade turnover will continue to grow further in the coming time, and that parliamentary cooperation plays a very important role in the overall cooperation relationship between the EU and Vietnam.
Delighted to witness Vietnam's development, members of the EP delegation expressed their good impressions of the country and people of Vietnam, believing that the visits and exchanges between the two sides will contribute to enhancing mutual understanding and trust, and close ties, bringing prosperity to the people of both sides. The steady increase in two-way trade turnover in recent times shows the importance of the EVFTA.
Delegates also expressed their interest in fisheries, policies to promote the development of Vietnam's regions as well as ensure the quality of development; solutions and orientations in implementing the goal of building an environmentally friendly energy program...
The National Assembly Chairman shared that Vietnam pursues development goals that ensure there is no large gap between rich and poor.
Vietnam has 6 regions divided by geographical area. Regions with good development potential will be given outstanding policies to develop beyond, spreading the impact to other regions. Regions with more difficulties will be given appropriate policies to narrow the development gap with other regions.
Vietnam is implementing and investing a lot of resources in three national target programs including sustainable poverty reduction, new rural construction, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.
In particular, the National Assembly is conducting supreme supervision on "The implementation of the National Assembly's Resolutions on the National Target Programs on new rural construction for the 2021-2025 period, sustainable poverty reduction for the 2021-2025 period, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the 2021-2030 period."
At the meeting, the National Assembly Chairman and EP parliamentarians discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern. The National Assembly Chairman suggested that the EU continue to play an active role, contribute its voice and take concrete actions to ensure the rule of law, freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, and strengthen cooperation with ASEAN on this issue.
The National Assembly Chairman said that the relationship between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the EP is developing very well in the spirit of cooperation and construction; he hoped that the two sides would continue to cooperate closely, especially in exchanging experiences in parliamentary activities, perfecting legal institutions, and resolving challenging global issues.
Besides enhancing bilateral cooperation, the two sides need to actively coordinate closely at important multilateral and regional parliamentary forums.
Stating that the two sides still have many cooperation mechanisms such as discussing investment protection measures, Mr. Daniel Caspary thanked the National Assembly Chairman for sharing about Vietnam's efforts in realizing the Political Declaration on establishing a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) between Vietnam and the G7 countries; the proposal to soon remove the IUU yellow card, encourage EU-Vietnam cooperation in modernizing the fisheries sector in Vietnam, Vietnam's commitment to implementing commitments in the EVFTA Agreement... and said that the European Union is trying to get the parliaments of the remaining countries to continue ratifying the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
Mr. Daniel Caspary expressed his hope that, together with the European Union's "Global Gateway" initiative, it will contribute to strongly connecting the European Union and ASEAN, as well as the people of the two blocs.
The Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP) Conference scheduled to take place this year in Europe will be an opportunity for the two sides to exchange and discuss, contributing to promoting bilateral cooperation.
At the meeting, through the Head of the Parliamentary Group Daniel Caspary, the National Assembly Chairman respectfully invited the EP Young Parliamentarians Delegation to Vietnam to participate in the 9th Global Young Parliamentarians Forum jointly organized by Vietnam and the Inter-Parliamentary Union in September this year./.
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