Việt Nam, Dominican Republic strengthen parliamentary diplomatic relations

Chairman of the National Assembly (NA)’s Committee for External Relations Vũ Hải Hà. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — A delegation of the National Assembly (NA)’s Committee for External Relations led by its chairman Vũ Hải Hà made a working visit to the Dominican Republic from July 18 to 20 as part of the NA’s foreign affairs programme this year.

Within the framework of the visit, the delegation met with the President of the Senate of the Dominican Republic Ricardo de los Santos, the Secretary-General of the United Left Movement Party (MIU), and the Minister of Regional Integration Policies of the Dominican Republic José Miguel Mejía Abreu, Minister of Energy and Mines Antonio Almonte, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Víctor Ito Bisonó Haza, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Rubén Silié Valdez.

At the meetings, Hà emphasised that the visit – the first of the Vietnamese National Assembly to the Dominican Republic – opens up a new chapter in the relationship between the two countries’ legislative bodies, thereby contributing to strengthening the traditional relations between the two countries.

Both sides are pleased to see that the relations have developed positively and witnessed practical results. They highlighted the official opening of the embassy of the Dominican Republic in Hà Nội in February 2023 as an important milestone in the bilateral relations which was founded by Presidents Hồ Chí Minh and Juan Bosch.

Ha emphasised that Việt Nam will always remember the valuable support of the Government, NA and people of the Dominican Republic for Việt Nam during its struggle for national independence and development. He affirmed that the Vietnamese NA will continue to support the promotion of the friendship and cooperation with the Dominican Republic.    

At the working sessions, the two sides shared the view that the current bilateral economic and trade of over US$100 million each year is not commensurate with the good political relations and the potential of the two countries. They agreed to strongly promoting the relations, especially in areas where both sides have strengths such as trade – investment, climate change response, digital transformation, renewable energy, culture, education, tourism while creating favourable conditions for businesses of the two countries to learn about each other’s markets.

Senate President Santos informed his guest that the Dominican parliament on July 18 issued a Resolution to establish the Dominican-Việt Nam Parliamentary Friendship Group which is expected to boost the parliamentary cooperation between the two countries in the coming time.

On this occasion, Hà expressed his thanks to the leaders of the Dominican Republic for extending their condolences to NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn and the Vietnamese people over the passing of the Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng.

Hà also conveyed NA Chairman Mẫn’s greetings and invitation to the Senate President to visit Việt Nam soon. — VNS