National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue attended the 5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Austria

Chairman Hue was the first high-ranking Vietnamese leader to visit Europe since a new slate of Vietnamese leaders was elected in May. The visit demonstrates Vietnam’s dynamism and responsibility at multilateral parliamentary forums and enhances the political trust between Vietnam and other countries. 

Strengthening parliamentary diplomacy

At the 5^th World Conference of Parliamentary Speakers, Chairman Hue and the Vietnamese delegation participated in 20 activities. Mr. Hue delivered 2 speeches at the opening and thematic sessions. He held dozens of bilateral meetings with Parliamentary leaders from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, including Japan, Russia, South Korea, India, and Chile. He met the Chief of the UN Office and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Austria.  Chairman Hue’s activities in Austria reflected Vietnam’s wish to promote multilateral parliamentary dialogues and work with the International Parliamentary Union to address issues of security, poverty reduction, climate change, COVID-19, and post-pandemic recovery.

Head of the External Relations Committee of the National Assembly Vu Hai Ha said, 'Parliamentary diplomacy represents the people’s aspiration to promote cooperation between governments and peoples in order to build special relationships. Vietnam is a comprehensive partner of the EU. The President of the European Parliament and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue agreed to set up a mechanism to boost bilateral parliamentary cooperation in order to boost ties between Vietnam and the EU.'

Intensifying economic cooperation with EU countries

Mr. Hue’s trip to Europe was also aimed at boosting economic cooperation between Vietnam and the EU, one of Vietnam’s leading partners. At meetings with the Presidents of the EU Council and the European Parliament, the two sides agreed to raise the Vietnam-EU comprehensive partnership of strategic importance to a new level. During the visit, Chairman Hue and the Vietnamese Ministers met 50 businesses including Europe’s leading groups in infrastructure, renewable energy, health care, education and training, digital transformation, and innovation. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said many contracts and MoU worth billions of USD were signed.

'European businesses showed a special interest in the Vietnamese market and said they consider Vietnam an important partner in Southeast Asia and a reliable partner. They are restructuring, so this is a good opportunity for us to attract investment from European businesses. They expressed a willingness to invest in Vietnam and transfer technology to Vietnam,' said Minister Dung.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue attends a ceremony in Belgium to hand over medical supplies to Vietnam

Promoting vaccine diplomacy

During the visit, European leaders agreed with Vietnam’s proposal concerning COVID-19 vaccine and promised to mobilize leaders of EU countries to help Vietnam obtain COVID-19 vaccine supplies and transfer vaccine production technology to Vietnam. The governments of Belgium and Slovakia, businesses, and overseas Vietnamese gave Vietnam donations of vaccines, medical supplies, medicines, and COVID-19 test kits. A number of contracts for vaccines and test kits and agreements to transfer vaccine production technology were signed. 

Chairman Hue also met overseas Vietnamese to whom he emphasized that overseas Vietnamese are an inseparable part of Vietnam and urged them to stay united and help one another.