An overview of the meeting (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Head of the National Assembly (NA)Committee for External Relations Vu Hai Ha had an online meeting with UnitedNations (UN) Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economicand Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Armida SalsiahAlisjabana on August 5 to discuss measures to bolster cooperation inimplementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Vietnam.
At the meeting, Ha said that the NA has played an important role in promoting the implementation of the SDGs by adopting laws and nationalstrategies as well as budget allocation for development programmes related tothe SDGs, while verifying and ratifying international conventions on humanrights and socio-economic matters.
He underscored that Vietnam coordinated with theInternational Parliamentary Union (IPU) to adopt the Hanoi Declaration 2015 with thetheme “The Sustainable Development Goals: Turning Words into Action,” and organise many meetings and conferences on sustainable development.
Briefing the UN official on Vietnam’s situation and progressof SDGs, Ha said that despite adverse impacts of COVID-19, Vietnam has successfullyorganised a number of important political events to complete its leadershipstructure and sketch out future development orientations.
(Photo: VNA) Vietnam has completed 16 out of 17 general targets and 115 out of169 detail goals, he said, adding that Vietnam has issued a roadmap for theimplementation of the SDGs to 2030.
Currently, the country is implementing the “twin targets” ofpreventing and controlling COVID-19 and boosting economic recovery anddevelopment at the same time, ensuring people’s livelihood and social security,he said.
He noted that last year, Vietnam was among a few countrieswith positive growth and is forecast to continue to enjoy 6-6.5 percent ofexpansion in 2021. However, since late April, the country has been hit hard bythe fourth COVID-19 wave of outbreaks due to the fast spreading of Delta variant, headded.
Ha said that the Prime Minister has issued a national ActionPlan to realise the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with specifictargets and tasks as well as responsibility for particular ministries, sectors,agencies and localities.
He proposed that the UN and the UNESCAP give more support to Vietnam in holding meetings, conferences as well as personneltraining to enhance the capacity of lawmakers and NA agencies in law-making andsupervision over the implementation of SDGs, thus optimising the NA role in theprocess.
For her part, Armida Salsiah Alisjabana lauded the role andefforts of the Vietnamese NA in promoting the implementation of SDGs, affirmingthe UNESCAP's commitments to assisting Vietnam and the NA in realising the goals.
Underscoring that COVID-19 is threatening the completion ofthe SDGs in Asia-Pacific region, she asked the Vietnamese NA to promote itsrole as an active member of the IPU bodies and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), thus connectingparliaments in hastening and supervising the process, ensuring the effectiveimplementation of policies regarding SDGs./.
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