National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn. VNA/VNS Photo

Ahead of National Assembly (NA) Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn's attendance at the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, bilateral activities in Switzerland, and official visits to Senegal and Morocco from July 22-30, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Đặng Hoàng Giang spoke to the local press.

Could you please talk about the significance and purpose of the working trip by the NA Chairman in Switzerland, and official visits to the Republic of Senegal and the Kingdom of Morocco?

At the invitation of the Speaker of the Senegalese National Assembly, El Malick Ndiaye; the Speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives, Rachid Talbi Alami; the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Tulia Ackson; and the IPU Secretary General, Martin Chungong, NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn, on behalf of the leaders of the Party and State of Việt Nam, will pay official visits to Senegal and Morocco, attend the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, and conduct bilateral activities in Switzerland from July 22-30, 2025.

The 6th IPU Speakers’ Conference is the largest gathering of its kind for Speakers of Parliament in 2025, attracting the largest presence of parliamentary leaders from around the world, with more than 110 speakers of parliament having confirmed their attendance.

This year's conference is themed, 'A world in turmoil: Parliamentary cooperation and multilateralism for peace, justice, and prosperity for all'. This theme reflects the international community's shared concerns about the current complex global situation, while also expressing the desire to promote the important role of multilateral parliamentary diplomacy in advancing peace, cooperation and development for the benefit of people worldwide, especially in policy-making and overseeing the implementation of laws.

Given these factors, it can be affirmed that the NA Chairman's trip holds exceptional significance, both bilaterally and multilaterally, as demonstrated by the following aspects:

First, from a bilateral perspective, this marks the first foreign trip for NA Mẫn to Switzerland and his first official visits to Morocco and Senegal. It is the first official visit to Morocco by a key Vietnamese leader in six years and the first to Senegal since the two countries established diplomatic relations.

The Chairman's trip will contribute to consolidating and further strengthening the friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation between Việt Nam and Senegal, Morocco and Switzerland, promoting cooperation between Việt Nam and the African and European regions.

At the same time, the trip is an opportunity for Việt Nam to diversify its economic and trade cooperation, promote collaboration in many fields, including parliamentary cooperation with partners in Senegal, Morocco and Switzerland, and attract maximum international resources to serve the nation's development goals in this era of national advancement, enhancing the image and stature of Việt Nam and its NA on the international stage.

Second, from a multilateral perspective, the trip aims to implement the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation, diversification and proactive and comprehensive international integration as outlined by the 13th Party Congress. It also aligns with the Politburo’s Resolution No 59-NQ/TW on international integration in the new situation, as well as the Secretariat’s Conclusion No 125-KL/TW on strengthening the implementation of Directive No 25-CT/TW on promoting and elevating multilateral diplomacy until 2030.

NA Chairman Mẫn's trip will strongly affirm the country's major policies and efforts in socio-economic development, uphold multilateralism, and create momentum for Việt Nam to demonstrate its role as a responsible member, making active and substantial contributions to the activities of the IPU and the UN. This will promote parliamentary relations and cooperation with other countries and international organisations, thereby enhancing the role and position of Việt Nam and its NA internationally.

In addition to directly participating in addressing major international issues, Việt Nam will also bring to the Conference its experiences and success stories to share and disseminate to other countries and international organisations. These stories focus on consolidating and maintaining peace, stability and national development; strengthening foreign relations; advancing international integration; upholding international law; and promoting international solidarity and cooperation for the peace, stability and prosperity of all people, nations, regions and the world.

Could you share some insights on Việt Nam's relations with Senegal and Morocco, the Comprehensive Partnership with Switzerland, and your expectations for the visits?

Việt Nam has enjoyed positive cooperative relations with Senegal, Morocco, and Switzerland for decades.

With Senegal, since establishing diplomatic ties in 1969, the two countries have maintained friendly and cooperative relations, consistently coordinating and supporting each other at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the Francophonie and the IPU. Economic cooperation has seen encouraging progress recently, with Việt Nam's exports to Senegal reaching nearly US$60 million in the first half of 2025, a threefold increase compared to the same period in 2024. The visit will serve as a catalyst to deepen bilateral ties, especially in economic cooperation and multilateral frameworks where Senegal plays a key role, as well as strengthening parliamentary relations between the two countries.

After nearly 65 years of diplomatic relations, Việt Nam–Morocco ties have continued to thrive across the three channels of Party, State, and people-to-people diplomacy. Both sides regularly coordinate positions and support each other in international forums. Legislative cooperation is developing both bilaterally and multilaterally. Morocco is now Việt Nam’s second-largest trading partner in North Africa, with bilateral trade growing steadily each year. The NA Chairman’s visit is expected to provide strong momentum for advancing cooperation, particularly in trade, investment, agriculture and tourism, toward the goal of reaching $500 million in bilateral trade in the coming years.

Việt Nam–Switzerland relations have flourished across many sectors over more than half a century of diplomatic ties. In trade, Switzerland is Việt Nam’s leading partner in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), with bilateral trade in 2024 reaching $811 million, and $375 million in just the first five months of 2025.

Swiss investment in Việt Nam currently exceeds $2.1 billion, ranking sixth among European investors and 20th among 147 countries and territories investing in Việt Nam.

In January 2025, during the 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter agreed to establish a Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries. Based on this foundation, Việt Nam and Switzerland will expand high-level exchanges and cooperation, accelerate negotiations on a free trade agreement with EFTA, and broaden collaboration in areas such as education, training, science, technology, culture, tourism and climate change response.

I am confident that Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn’s trip to attend the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, engage in bilateral activities in Switzerland, and make official visits to Senegal and Morocco will be a resounding success in all respects, highlighting Việt Nam’s and the Vietnamese NA’s proactive, substantive role and contributions in addressing global issues. — VNS