NA Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man (R) meets with Portugal’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Francisco André on November 13. (Photo: VNA) Lisbon (VNA) – A delegation of the National Assembly (NA) led by its Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man on November 13 engaged in activities to promote the Vietnam-Portugal relations, within the framework of the visit to the European country.
At the meeting with Portugal’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Francisco André, the Vietnamese NA official said that Vietnam attaches importance and gives priority to strengthening the partnership and comprehensive cooperation with European Union, its member states including Portugal – an important member of the EU.
He thanked Portugal for ratifying the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) in April and called on the country to encourage other EU member states to ratify the agreement soon.
Man also asked Portugal to help push the removal of the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” warning against Vietnam's seafood products relating to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU).
At the meeting, the two sides agreed that investment cooperation between the two countries is still modest compared to its potential. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to promote cooperation in fields such as culture, education, marine economy, maritime, renewable energy, tourism, information technology, and labour.
The Portuguese official said his country is highly aware of Vietnam's efforts to improve the legal framework against the IUU fishing, and hopes that the EU will consider those efforts to have positive assessments to soon remove the warning against Vietnam.
The Vietnamese NA delegation and leaders of the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) pose for a group photo. (Photo: VNA) At a meeting with President of the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) Filipe Santos Costa, the Vietnamese official said that by the end of 2022, Portugal had only three investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of 110,000 USD. Meanwhile, Vietnam had one project in Portugal with a registered capital of 856,000 USD.
He said the two sides share the view to boost cooperation and investment and take advantages of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to have bilateral trade reached 1 billion USD in the coming time.
Vietnam is willing to serve as a bridge connecting Portugal and the Southeast Asian market, Man said.
At the meeting with parliamentarians of the Portuguese Communist Party, he said that Vietnam always pays attention to consolidating and developing friendship and cooperative relations with traditional friends like the Portuguese Communist Party.
On this occasion, Man also reiterated the invitation by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to General Secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party Paulo Raimundo to visit Vietnam in 2024.
The meeting between the Vietnamese NA delegation and Ricardo Valente (centre, right side), Councilor for Finance, Economy, and Employment of Porto city on November 13 (Photo: VNA) Also the same day, the NA delegation met with Ricardo Valente who is Councilor for Finance, Economy, and Employment of Porto city and leaders of EDP Renewables - a global leader in the renewable energy sector and the world's fourth-largest wind energy producer.
Currently, the group has three solar power farm projects and 10 clusters of rooftop solar power projects in Vietnam. The group leaders appreciated Vietnam's policies in supporting its projects.
They said they hope Vietnam will continue to have preferential policies so that the group can operate new technologies in the country such as floating solar and hydrogen technology./.
