Substantial improvements in Vietnam-EU relations

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan welcomes Chairman of the European Parliament (EP)’s Committee on International Trade Bernd Lange (L).

On July 26, National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan hosted a reception in Hanoi for Chairman of the European Parliament (EP)’s Committee on International Trade Bernd Lange, currently on a working visit to Vietnam.

Ngan emphasized that Vietnam attaches great importance to cooperative relations with the EU, especially in the fields of economics, trade and investment.

Currently, Vietnam and the EU are in the negotiation process towards the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which, Ngan hopes, will create fresh impetus for the two sides to fully tap their potential for stronger cooperation, thereby offering more investment and business opportunities for their business communities and people. She said she hopes that the Committee on International Trade and its Chairman will back the early signing and ratification of the EVFTA.

Chairman Bernd Lange expressed his impression about Vietnam's steady growth over recent years along with high economic growth and positive results in poverty reduction.

Emphasizing the EP’s wish to promote cooperative frameworks that are beneficial and of value to the EU, Bernd Lange hoped that the negotiation and signing of EVFTA can be finalized by the end of October this year and pledged his personal and committee’s support for the signing of the trade pact.

The Vietnamese NA leader stated that Vietnam has participated in numerous bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements with its full and proper commitments in these trade deals. The implementation of the EVFTA will give a boost to trade and investment ties in line with the business communities’ expectation.

Therefore, Vietnam will always hear the opinions from European economic policy makers and businesses so that the agreement can be implemented in the most effective way, delivering practical benefits to both sides.

Besides its economic significance, the trade pact also brings the political position of the EU in Asia through the gateway to Vietnam, thus creating a close link between the EU and Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.

The Vietnam National Assembly will review the legal system and commitments that Vietnam will sign in this agreement, Ngan said.

At the meeting, the top Vietnamese legislator also informed her guest that the Vietnam Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and other concerned Vietnamese agencies are going ahead with the implementation of plans and proposals on the country’s participation in the UN and the International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions regarding social affairs for the period 2016 - 2020.

As a member of the ILO, Vietnam has been promoting the principles and fundamental rights of workers in the workplace. The Vietnam National Assembly is ready to adjust its annual law and ordinance-making programs in order to accelerate the process of realizing the commitments stipulated in the EVFTA as well as the UN and ILO conventions to best facilitate the signing and ratification of the trade deal, she noted.