Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân (right) meets President of the France-Việt Nam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group Stephanie Đỗ in Hà Nội on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

HÀ NỘI — Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân has urged the Việt Nam-France and France-Việt Nam Friendship Parliamentary Groups to increase exchanges for better mutual understanding of each other’s country and people.

At a meeting with Stephanie Đỗ, President of the France-Việt Nam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group (FVFPG) in Hà Nội yesterday, Ngân said Việt Nam always attaches great importance to relations with France in its external policy.

She underlined economic cooperation as an important pillar in the bilateral strategic partnership. France is the third biggest European investor in Việt Nam with 512 projects worth US$2.8 billion, and the fourth largest trade partner of Việt Nam in Europe with two-way trade hitting $5.1 billion in 2018, she noted.
Việt Nam highly appreciated France’s policy on strengthening economic partnership with the Southeast Asian country, she said, adding that more than 200 French enterprises are operating in Việt Nam and close to 215,000 French tourists visited Việt Nam in 2018.
Việt Nam hoped France will maintain the provision of official development assistance (ODA) for Việt Nam, focusing on sustainable development cooperation in the fields of environment, agriculture, forestation, and natural disaster prevention, Ngân said. She expressed her thanks to France for supporting Việt Nam in climate change adaptation.
The top legislator asked the two sides to increase connections and support for businesses to access their markets. Việt Nam is willing to create all possible conditions for French businesses to join investment projects in Việt Nam in various fields such as infrastructure, clean energy, renewable energy, smart city and healthcare, she said.
The locality-to-locality cooperation is a special feature in Việt Nam-France relations, which has helped promote the bilateral strategic partnership, Ngân said, noting that 38 French localities have set up cooperative or twin ties with 18 Vietnamese cities and provinces.
Regarding illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, Ngân said Việt Nam is making every effort to have the EU’s ‘yellow card’ removed and meet the EU’s recommendations, including the implementation of the law on aquaculture, the national action programme on IUU, and development of international cooperation in fishing. Therefore, she asked France to persuade the EU to soon lift the ‘yellow card’ on Vietnamese aquatic products.

FVFPG President Đỗ said she is willing to make contributions to the bilateral friendship and cooperation as well as their coordination in the international arena. 

Đỗ urged Việt Nam and France to pay due attention to ecological protection, especially when the EVFTA was signed, as well as obey the Paris agreement on climate change in 2015.

The same day, the FVFPG delegation, led by President Đỗ, held talks with the Việt Nam-France Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group, headed by the group’s Chairwoman Nguyễn Thuý Anh. — VNS