Chairman of Việt Nam’s National Assembly Vương Đình Huệ (left) held talks with President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Duarta Pacheco in Austria on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Chairman of Việt Nam’s National Assembly Vương Đình Huệ on Monday met with President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Duarta Pacheco, as part of his trip to Austria to attend the fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (WCSP5).

The IPU President warmly welcomed the Vietnamese delegation, expressed appreciation for the parliament of Việt Nam’s contributions in hosting and adopting Hà Nội Declaration on 'The Sustainable Development Goals: Turning Words into Action' during the 132nd IPU in 2015 in Việt Nam.

Chairman Huệ affirmed that participation in IPU activities is a crucial part of Việt Nam’s multilateral parliament diplomacy in order to promote its interests and stances on issues of global concern, as well as to increase access to experience and good practices by other parliaments in the world to improve its own capacity and operations.

He informed the host that the National Assembly of Việt Nam has actively participated in promoting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), passed related laws, examined and ratified relevant international conventions and treaties, adopted national strategies, and determined budgets for programmes related to sustainable development.

In particular, the National Assembly of Việt Nam has promptly passed a resolution to create a legal framework for the Government to proactively implement COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

Huệ made three proposals for the IPU to become an even more effective organisation. First, it should carry out initiatives to innovate its operations, enhance the role of the IPU in current international affairs, especially to further develop the partnership between the IPU and the United Nations (UN), ensure the common interests of member parliaments, contribute to the development of world parliamentary diplomacy and strengthen multilateral cooperation.

Second, the IPU Secretariat should implement various tripartite cooperation projects between the member parliaments and the IPU and the UN to help them integrate further into international organisations’ activities, especially in terms of poverty reduction, post-pandemic recovery, and sustainable development.

Third, the Vietnamese top legislator said that Việt Nam is ready to host symposiums at the request of the IPU, considering this an opportunity to both support the IPU and improve its international cooperation capacity and learn from others’ experience.

The IPU President said he concurs with the proposals and is willing to come to Hà Nội to discuss Việt Nam’s initiatives, including symposiums and regional conferences on SDGs, young parliamentarians, or economic recovery between IPU general assembly sessions.

The two sides agreed that the IPU has been an active and effective forum and has made many contributions over the past 130 years to inter-parliamentary cooperation and multilateral diplomacy.

The two officials agreed that members should propose and promote more initiatives to ‘innovate’ IPU's activities, especially to further develop the partnership between the IPU and the UN.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reflected the fact that no single country, developed or developing, can solve global problems alone, and that multilateral cooperation is the optimal approach, including through parliamentary channels, the two sides remarked.

All parliaments need to work together and put their trust in the IPU in the efforts to build back better.

The Vietnamese Chairman arrived at the Vienna-Schwechat airport in Austria on Sunday (local time), beginning his trip to attend the WCSP5 in Vienna at the invitation of President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Duarte Pacheco and President of the Austrian National Council Wolfgang Sobotka.

The conference, which is being jointly held by the IPU and the Austrian Parliament from September 6-8 in an in-person format, is themed “Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet.”

NA Chairman Huệ is scheduled to deliver speeches on the overall topic of the conference and at some discussions, focusing on sustainable development, the response to COVID-19 and post-pandemic recovery.

The conference is a new and special mechanism of the IPU, aiming to contribute a common voice to the United Nations on the settlement of global issues. It is held every five years.

Also on the evening of September 5, NA Chairman Vương Đình Huệ met Vietnamese Ambassadors to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Austria and Germany.

He lauded the efforts of Vietnamese representative agencies abroad, including those in Europe, in implementing vaccine diplomacy, asking the ambassadors to continue to work hard by all means and all channels to bring more COVID-19 vaccines to Việt Nam.

The ambassadors should exert more efforts to seek more vaccine sources and remove all obstacles in procedures to bring vaccines and medical supplies home as fast and soon as possible, he requested. — VNS