(VOVWORLD) - National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue begins an official visit to Indonesia on Friday and will attend the 44th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) at the invitation of Speaker of the People's Representative Council of Indonesia and AIPA Chair Puan Maharani. The visit affirms Vietnam’s contributions to AIPA and generates momentum for the Vietnam-Indonesia strategic partnership.
 National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue at Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Jakarta. (Photo: VNA) |
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s official visit to Indonesia and participation at AIPA 44 will take place from Friday to next Monday. This is Chairman Hue’s first visit to Indonesia.
Strengthening relations with traditional friends
Vietnam and Indonesia established diplomatic relations in December 30, 1955. Their traditional friendly relationship, which was established by President Ho Chi Minh and President Sukarno, has been promoted by generations of leaders and others over the past 68 years.
Along with political and diplomatic relations, economic cooperation has been a focus in their relations. Indonesia is one of Vietnam's leading partners in the region. Last year’s bilateral trade reached 14 billion USD, far exceeding the target of 10 billion USD for this year.
The two countries are implementing the Action Program for the 2019-2023 period and negotiating the Action Program for the 2024-2028 period to deepen the already comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.
In recent years, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries’ legislative bodies have maintained contact, including high-level meetings on the sidelines of multilateral parliamentary conferences. This year Vietnam and Indonesia mark the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership.
 Le Thu Ha, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee (Photo: qdnd.vn) |
Le Thu Ha, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said that during Mr. Hue’s visit, the two sides will re-sign their Cooperation Agreement with new contents matching the current situation.
“Both sides will strengthen contacts at all levels and between legislative Committees, deputies, and groups of friendship parliamentarians to discuss legislative oversight and law making. The two sides have agreed to promote the role of their legislative bodies in overseeing ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses and actively and effectively implementing treaties and agreements,” said Ms. Ha.
Elevating multilateral parliamentary diplomacy
After his visit to Indonesia, National Assembly Chairman Hue will attend AIPA 44, where he will deliver a keynote speech at the first plenary session.
The Vietnamese National Assembly has proposed 3 draft resolutions: one on digital transformation led by women for women; one on promoting innovation and technology transfer, application, and development for sustainable growth; and one on applying ASEAN guidelines on responsible investment in food, agriculture, and forestry.
“These are very important draft resolutions which aim to help ASEAN promote its science, technology, and innovation advantages for economic recovery and development, and fully exploit its agriculture, food, and forestry potential. Vietnam has contributed ideas to other draft resolutions of the Economic Committee, the Social Committee, and the Political Committee at the Conference of Young Female Parliamentarians,” said Ms. Ha.
AIPA Secretary General Ar. Siti Rozaimeriyanty said, “Vietnam has always been a great contributor in a lot of way. There have been active contributions and very consistence in terms of providing constructive inputs and initiatives that look into enhancing the effectiveness and relevance of AIPA. The active participation and constructive contributions from Vietnam highlight the commitments for AIPA. We are very glad for having more engagement from Vietnam.”
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s official visit to Indonesia and participation at AIPA 44 will strengthen the friendly relationship between Vietnam and Indonesia, and enhance the role and position of Vietnam and the Vietnamese National Assembly at regional parliamentary cooperation mechanisms.