Top legislator meets with President of Philippines in Hanoi

Hanoi (VNA) – Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Vuong Dinh Hue met with President of the Philippines Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. in Hanoi on January 30, describing the latter’s first state visit to Vietnam as a strong impetus to tighten the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The host leader applauded the outcomes of the earlier talks between Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong and his Philippine counterpart, during which the two sides handed over documents on agricultural, rice trading, maritime, and cultural cooperation.

Chairman Hue held that trade is a bright spot of the bilateral ties, adding it has helped generate benefits for enterprises and people of both countries amid obstacles to global investment and trade flows.

He suggested the two countries expand cooperation in just energy transition, safe digital transformation, and green energy, among others in the spirit of the strategic partnership. Thanking the Philippine President, Government, and people for their recent assistance to Vietnamese workers and citizens, he recommended the two governments to sign a labour cooperation agreement early.

The Chairman highlighted the increasingly practical connections between the Vietnamese NA and the Philippine Congress, especially since the House of Representatives and the Senate of the archipelago nation adopted resolutions on enhancing the bilateral relations before and during the Vietnamese NA delegation’s official visit in 2022.

He expressed his hope that the two parliaments will continue increasing mutual visits by their leaders and specialised agencies, and share experience in parliamentary activities and the building of legal frameworks for bilateral investment, economic, and trade ties.

The two sides should actively implement the Vietnamese NA’s agreement with the Philippine House of Representatives and Senate so as to turn their parliamentary cooperation into a model of its kind in the world, Chairman Hue continued.

At the meeting, both leaders voiced their delight at the signing of the rice trading agreement, considering this as not only a contributor to the two countries’ trade turnover but also a demonstration of mutual trust and a help to food security.

President Marcos Jr. shared his host’s view about the need to enhance political trust; expand cooperation in the fields of labour, agriculture, education, and training; and exchange experience in natural disaster prevention and control, vocational training, the building of labour, employment and social protection policies, and response to social impacts of epidemics and climate change.

He also agreed on the need for the two sides to step up exchanges of Party, parliamentary, and government delegations as well as people-to-people exchanges, improve the effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms, encourage the two countries’ parliamentary friendship groups to boost practical activities, foster partnerships between localities, facilitate people-to-people exchanges, and connect enterprises.

That will help intensify cooperation within the framework of the Philippines - Vietnam strategic partnership for the sake of both nations' people, the President opined.

Talking about regional and international issues of shared interest, the two leaders agreed that Vietnam and the Philippines will support each other at multilateral frameworks. The two nations will continue their close coordination with each other, other ASEAN countries, and partners to maintain and carry out ASEAN’s common stance on the East Sea, ensure the full and serious implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and promote the negotiations on and building of an efficient and effective Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Philippine leader said together with striving for 10 billion USD in bilateral trade, the two countries need to capitalise on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to expand economic, trade, and investment ties.

On this occasion, Chairman Hue called on the Philippines to create more favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live and work there and serve as bridges of cooperation between the countries.

Via President Marcos Jr., he invited the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate of the Philippines to pay official visits to Vietnam in the near future./.