Chairman of the National Assembly Vương Đình Huệ. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Chairman of the National Assembly Vương Đình Huệ will attend the 43rd ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-43) and pay an official visit to Cambodia on November 19-22.

The trip will be made at the invitation of the President of the Cambodian National Assembly and AIPA-43 Chair Samdech Heng Samrin.

This is the first official trip of Vương Đình Huệ to Cambodia as the leader of the Vietnamese parliament, according to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng during the regular press conference on Thursday held in Hà Nội.

The event is a successful conclusion to a series of high-level delegation exchanges in Việt Nam-Cambodia and Cambodia-Việt Nam Friendship Year 2022 as the two countries celebrated the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1967-2022), Hằng said.

During the visit, NA Chairman Huệ will hold talks with the President of the Cambodian National Assembly Heng Samrin, meet with the King of Cambodia Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, President of the Cambodian Senate Say Chhum, and attend the signing ceremony of cooperation agreements between the two legislative bodies, among other important activities.

Under the theme “Advancing Together for Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient ASEAN”, the AIPA 43 will discuss ways to build an even, strong, and inclusive community, contributing to economic recovery, narrowing the gap in development and regional integration, developing human resources and ensuring social security, enhancing the participation of women and youth in creating and maintaining peace and development, and promoting people-to-people exchanges.

Since becoming a member of AIPA in 1995, the National Assembly of Việt Nam has been active, and together with other member countries’ parliaments responsibly contributed to strengthening the central role, solidarity and unity within AIPA as well as expanding multi-sided relations with other parliaments within and outside of the region, according to spokesperson Hằng.

At the same time, Việt Nam has proposed many valuable initiatives to share the burden of support outside of governments to resolve issues that have priority in the region.

Attending the AIPA 43, NA Chairman Huệ will deliver an important speech at the opening ceremony and have bilateral meetings with all the heads of delegations and parliaments.

Right after the Cambodian trip, NA Chairman Huệ will pay an official visit to the Philippines at the invitation of President of the Senate of the Philippines Juan Miguel Zubiri.

This is the first official visit to the Philippines by a high-ranking Vietnamese official in 2022 and by a leader of the National Assembly in 16 years, spokesperson Hằng said.

The visit comes at a time when the Việt Nam – Philippines strategic partnership continues to see positive developments in all areas, Hằng said, adding that the two sides have effectively maintained high-level exchanges as well as on all other levels.

Trade cooperation is a bright spot in bilateral relations, defence and security, and maritime cooperation which has seen effective and substantive progress as well as cooperation in other areas such as education, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

It is expected that the NA Chairman Huệ will hold talks with the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Martin Romualdez and have meetings with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and President of the Senate Juan Miguel Zubiri, who will also attend the signing ceremony of cooperation agreements between Việt Nam National Assembly and the Philippine House of Representatives.

The Vietnamese top legislator is also scheduled to attend the economic cooperation forum as well as receive representatives of the Philippines corporations and businesses, among other important activities.

Francophone Summit

At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Tunisia Kais Saied, Vice President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân will lead the Vietnamese high level delegation to the 18 Francophonie Summit in Tunisia during November 19-20, Hằng announced.

Over the years, Việt Nam has maintained a full, active and substantive participation in almost all prioritised areas of the Francophone community.

Việt Nam has also been a key member of the Asia Pacific region that plays a significant role in planning and implementing cooperation strategies of the Francophone community, according to the foreign ministry spokesperson.

Under the theme "Connectivity in diversity: digital technology as a vector of development and solidarity in the Francophone space", Việt Nam, together with other nations, will focus on discussing the economic and political situation in the world and the Francophone space.

Hằng said the Vice President Xuân will attend the opening ceremony and deliver speeches at the meetings and discussion sessions of the summit.

She will also have bilateral meetings with other leaders and heads of delegations during the summit. — VNS