Vietnamplus, 14/07/2010

Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Tong Thi Phong made the confirmation at her meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on July 13, with Stavros Lambrinidis, Vice President of the European Parliament (EP), which formed part of her working visit to the EP.

She said the purpose of her visit is to reinforce the friendship and positive cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the EP at a time when Vietnam and the EU are celebrating the 20 th anniversary of their diplomatic ties and the Vietnam-EU relations are revealing opportunities for profound changes.

She briefed her host about the situation in Vietnam as well as changes the Vietnamese NA has implemented to make its operation more democratic and efficient and to fully meet the people’s wish and aspirations.

At the event, Phong spoke highly of the EU’s assistance and its ODA commitment of 144 million EUR for Vietnam in the 2011-2013 period.

Emphasising great fruits of the Vietnam-EU cooperation in the past two decades, the Vietnamese legislator also stressed the significance of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in the relationship.

She expressed hope that both sides can complete negotiations and initial the PCA during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s official visit to the EU in October this year, underlining that the document will lay a foundation for both sides’ multi-faceted, stable and long-term cooperation, suit their dynamic growth and allow them to deal with global challenges more efficiently.

However, Phong raised the fact that the EP has in recent years shown biased attitudes on the situation in Vietnam and also adopted a number of solutions disregarding the gains recorded by the Vietnamese people in the field of human rights.

She said this was due to the EP’s reliance on those overseas Vietnamese, who had no wish to reconcile with the homeland, as a source of news.

“The EP parliamentarians lack formal and reliable information provided by the Vietnamese State ,” Phong said, admitting the Vietnamese NA’s shortcomings in sharing information with the EP.

Phong said she hoped both the Vietnamese NA and the EP will continue to engage in dialogue and at the same time increase contacts and exchange of visits by officials at all levels to enable information to be shared openly.

She affirmed that Vietnamese legislators will take the initiative in exchanging information with their EP colleagues to boost relations between the parliaments in a practical and efficient manner, and contribute more to promoting Vietnam- EU ties.

During the visit, Phong and her entourage held a working session with Norbert Neuser, who is in charge of the Committee for Assistance to Vietnam , and a group of parliamentarians involved with Southeast Asia and ASEAN, who pledged to step up efforts for PCA negotiations to be wrapped up soon.

Regarding the EU’s imposition of anti-dumping tariff against leather-capped shoes imported from Vietnam , Norbert Neuser noted this action ran against the EP’s support for free trade and caused negative impacts on Vietnam ’s workforce, especially woman labourers.

He said the recent global economic and financial crisis has not affected European businesses who wish to do business in Vietnam .

At these functions, Phong said she highly valued the EP’s growing role and power after the Lisbon Treaty came into force.

She expressed thanks to the EU for its lifting of the anti-dumping tariff levied on bikes imported from Vietnam and hoped it would soon clear its anti-dumping tariff on Vietnam ’s leather-capped shoes.

Phong also expressed hope that the EU would prioritise the settlement of outstanding issues with Vietnam and soon recognise the Southeast Asian country’s market economy./.