NA Vice Chairman pays working visit to Germany

Berlin (VNA) – Vice Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Do Ba Ty led a high-ranking delegation on a working visit to Germany from September 24 to 27.

On September 26, the Vice Chairman had talks with Vice President of the German parliament Thomas Oppermann and received Chairman of the parliament’s Defence Committee Wolfgang Hellmich.

At the talks with the German parliament’s Vice President, Ty affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to reinforcing relations with Germany in all aspects and considers the country a trustworthy and leading partner in Europe.

He thanked the parliament for supporting the German Government’s continuation of official development assistance for Vietnam, affirming that the projects funded through that assistance have been greatly helping with Vietnam’s socio-economic development.

The Vice Chairman also asked Germany to further assist Vietnam in the fields matching the former’s strength and the latter’s demand like vocational training, climate change response, waste treatment, environmental protection and high technology.

Both sides shared the view that the strategic partnership between the two countries is growing strongly, noting that aside from connections in politics, economy, trade and investment, parliamentary cooperation is one of the important pillars that are being promoted strongly.

Oppermann affirmed his country’s support for the early ratification of the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). It also wishes to step up cultural exchanges through activities of the Goethe Institute in Vietnam.

The two sides also agreed to bolster partnerships in other areas like defence, science – technique and industry.

Vice Chairman Ty appreciated Germany’s advocacy of the EVFTA and EVIPA signing, calling on the country to continue promoting the European Parliament and the EU member parliaments’ early ratification of the two deals so that they will become effective soon and generate practical benefits for businesses and people of both sides.

On this occasion, he thanked Germany, along with the UK and France, for issuing statements on the East Sea situation. He asked Germany and other EU members to back Vietnam and ASEAN’s stance on the East Sea issue and urge the parties concerned not to repeat violations, not use force or military actions, respect countries’ legal interests, resolve disputes by peaceful measures, and respect international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

At the talks, Ty voiced his hope that the two countries will keep close coordination at multilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially within the framework of the United Nations, as Vietnam will serve as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020 – 2021, Chair of ASEAN for 2020 and Chair of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) for 2019 – 2020, while Germany will take over the EU presidency in 2020 and is currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

During their trip to Germany, the Vietnamese NA’s delegation visited the state of Hessen where they had meetings with President of Hessen’s parliament Boris Rhein and Minister-President of the state Volker Bouffier.

The Hessen leaders expressed their wish to further enhance cooperation with Vietnam, particularly in vocational training and the industries which Hessen is strong at.

Both sides agreed that aside from cooperation at the central level, locality-to-locality partnerships, including between Vietnamese localities and Hessen, should also be fostered.

Vice Chairman Ty said in the strategic partnership with Germany, Vietnam always treasures ties with German states, including Hessen, and considers the relationship with Hessen a bright example of the two countries’ connections.

The hosts and guest said there remain much potential and many opportunities for cooperation between Vietnam and Hessen, especially in the fields of Hessen’s strength and Vietnam’s demand such as industry, pharmaceutical and vocational training.

They shared the view that the effective implementation of the Vietnamese-German University project, a “lighthouse” of bilateral cooperation in training, is of important significance reflecting Germany’s goodwill in assisting Vietnam to train skilled human resources amid the Industry 4.0 era.

At the meetings, both sides also exchanged viewpoints on many international and regional issues of shared concern. They showed their support for the maintenance of multilateral cooperation mechanisms on the basis of respecting international law, for the sake peace and stability in the regions and the world.

During the visit, the Vietnamese NA’s delegation also had working sessions with officials of the German military and the friendship group for relations with the ASEAN nations at the German parliament./.