Vice President receives First Officer of Hungarian National Assembly

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan (R) and First Officer of the Hungarian National Assembly Márta Mátrai (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan hosted a reception in Hanoi on January 21 for First Officer of the Hungarian National Assembly Márta Mátrai.

Xuan thanked Hungary for assisting Vietnam in the fight against COVID-19, making it easier for the country to restore socio-economic development like today, while actively backing Vietnam at multilateral forums, especially the signing and ratification of the European Union – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and becoming the first EU nation to approve the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

Following the upgrade of bilateral ties to comprehensive partnership in September 2018 during Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit, Xuan wished that both sides would enhance cooperation in a more effective and practical manner, firstly the exchange of high-level delegations both online and offline via the National Assembly, Party, Government and people-to-people diplomacy channels, as well as offering mutual support at multilateral forums to maintain traditional friendship.

With two-way trade reaching nearly 1.3 billion USD in 2020 and around 1 billion USD in 2021, the Vietnamese Vice President hoped that more economic and investment promotion activities would be held to lift the figure to a greater height.

Apart from Hungary’s support for Vietnam in official development assistance (ODA) and education-training, the host wished that both sides would continue working closely together in other fields such as science-technology, innovation, health care and especially COVID-19 prevention and control. She also hoped for further attention to promoting gender equality to achieve better results.

On the occasion, she also thanked the Hungarian Government for providing support for the Vietnamese community living there, with over 5,000 people.

Mátrai, for her part, informed the host that during her meeting with National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, both sides agreed to continue bolstering ties between the two legislatures, including organising the third thematic seminar to uphold the efficiency of their cooperation mechanism, strengthening friendship between friendly parliamentarians’ groups to contribute to the success of State diplomatic activities, and considering the possibility of holding meetings between NA economic committees to boost trade.

She also wished that joint work across science, economy and education would be further stepped up so that the two cultures would become closer./.