Vietnamese, Hungarian parliaments foster partnership

Hanoi (VNA) – National Assembly (NA) Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien held talks with his Hungarian counterpart Jakab Istvan in Hanoi on January 17, during which Hien affirmed that Vietnam hopes to expand its partnership with Hungary in all fields.

The Vietnamese NA Vice Chairman held that economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two countries have seen continuous progress. Two-way trade in 2018 reached nearly 600 million USD, a surge of 70 percent over 2017, he noted.

However, he stated that the results have yet to match the potential and aspiration of both sides, suggesting that the two countries should coordinate closely in organising trade promotion activities and support enterprises to seek cooperation and investment in areas of each other’s strengths.

Hien expressed his hope that Hungary, as an active member of the EU, will continue supporting the development of the Vietnam-EU partnership, as well as the signing and approval of the bilateral free trade agreement and the investment protection agreement.

Highlighting the growing ties between the Vietnamese and Hungarian parliaments, he proposed that the two sides increase both the exchange of high-level delegations and the sharing of experience on parliamentary operations.

At the same time, the two sides should foster affiliation in supervising and speeding up the implementation of agreements signed by the two governments, as well as strategic cooperation projects, he said.

Hien added that both sides should continue to strengthen consultations, collaboration, and mutual support at multilateral parliamentary forums, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP).

For his part, Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament Jakab Istvan said that his visit aims to maintain the delegation exchange between the two legislative bodies and contribute to further strengthening the traditional friendship and partnership between Vietnam and Hungary, as well as bilateral parliamentary cooperation.

He affirmed that Hungary considers Vietnam an important strategic partner in the Southeast Asian region, while expressing his hope that the two parliaments will continue boosting collaboration for stronger friendship, trust, and mutual understanding among parliamentarians and the people of both countries.

Lauding the achievements that Vietnam has gained in economic development over the years, Jakab Istvan suggested that the two sides should expand partnership in the areas of food safety, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and tourism.–VNA