NA Chairwoman receives with EP Vice President

National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan receives Vice President of the European Parliament (EP) Heidi Hautala, Ha Noi, January 7, 2019

At the reception, Vice President of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala stressed that Viet Nam is an important import-export partner of the EU, Hautala said that the EU has paid great attention to sustainability and product origin, which is included in the VPA/FLEGT.

She noted that in 2018, the NA of Viet Nam actively coordinated with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to hold activities related to the UN sustainable development goals and the role of the parliament in reaching the goals through the application of a self-evaluation tool.

Together with bilateral cooperation mechanisms, the EP wants to set up collaboration mechanisms with other ASEAN countries’ parliaments, said Hautala. 

In turn, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan thanked Hautala for her positive contributions to promoting the Viet Nam-European Union (EU) relationship, as well as the partnership between the Vietnamese NA and the EP.

She noted that the relationship between Viet Nam and the EU has been growing in all fields, especially trade and investment.

Currently, the EU is the fourth largest trade partner and the second biggest export market of Viet Nam, as well as the fifth largest investor in the Southeast Asian country, Ngan said.

The NA leader briefed her guest on Viet Nam’s socio-economic performances in 2018, including GDP growth of 7.08%. The Vietnamese NA ratified the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2018, creating an important foundation for Viet Nam to continue its intensive international integration and a new momentum for national development, Ngan stressed.

She affirmed that as a responsible and active member of many multilateral cooperation forums and many new generation free trade agreements, Viet Nam will strictly implement its commitments in line with regulations stipulated in these mechanisms.

In order to institutionalize and effectively carry out the VPA/FLEGT, which Viet Nam signed in October 2018, Viet Nam will soon build a decree to control the import of wood, as well as regulations related to Viet Nam's timber legality assurance system (VNTLAS) she said.

The Vietnamese NA leader expressed her hope that Viet Nam and the EU will soon approve the VPA/FLEGT to facilitate wood and wooden furniture trading between the two sides and contribute to hastening the approval of the EVFTA.

On the same day, Vice President of the European Parliament had worked with leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other relevant agencies on the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (VPA/FLEGT) between the EU and Viet Nam. 

The two sides agreed on specific contents to be conducted in the coming time, the EP is working to ensure the prompt realisation of the deal.

 By Vien Nhu