Việt Nam seeks stronger parliamentary cooperation with France

At the working session between President of the Vietnam-France Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group Nguyễn Thùy Anh (third, left) and members of the France-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group at the French Senate. — VNA/VNS Photo

PARIS — President of the Vietnam-France Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group Nguyễn Thùy Anh paid a visit to France from January 23-24 to seek cooperation opportunities with French partners.

Anh, who is also Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA)’s Committee for Social Affairs and President of the Vietnam-France Friendship and Cooperation Association, had meetings with President of the French Parliament’s France-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group Anne Le Henanff, and Vice President of the France-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group at the French Senate Laurence Muller-Bronn.

Showing her delight at the growth of ties between the two countries, especially since the two sides set up their strategic partnership in 2013, Anh affirmed that Vietnam always treasures the relations with France and highly values the role of France in the region and the world.

Hailing the contributions of the two friendship parliamentarians’ groups to the bilateral legislative partnership, Anh expressed her hope that French parliamentarians will continue to cooperate with their Vietnamese peers to further promote bilateral relations in 2024 and following years.

Vietnamese Ambassador to France Đinh Toàn Thắng asked the two friendship parliamentarians’ groups to continue striving to push the French Parliament to approve the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) soon, while contributing their voice to the European Commission to remove the “yellow card” warning against Vietnamese seafood.

French parliamentarians showed special interest in the lawsuit of Trần Tố Nga, an overseas Vietnamese in France, against American chemicals companies that produced Agent Orange/dioxin sprayed in Vietnam during the war, and affirmed their support to Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxin victims. They pledged to support Việt Nam in areas of its demands.

In order to promote the Vietnam-France cooperation in health care, Anh and Thắng had a working session with the France-Vietnam Medical Federation, hailing the contributions that French doctors have made to caring for the public health in Vietnam and listening to their opinions.

During her stay, Anh also held a working session with leaders of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association (AAFV) to explore the French side’s ideas on fostering the collaboration between the AAFV and the Vietnam-France Friendship and Cooperation Association, thus contributing to increasing people-to-people exchange as well as friendship and solidarity between the two peoples. The Vietnamese official took the occasion to thank the AAFV for its support to Vietnam over the past 60 years.

As the Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophone (APF)’s Vietnam Sub-Committee, Anh had a working session with APF Secretary General Damien Cesselin to discuss a number of cooperation contents of the Vietnamese NA in this multilateral mechanism. — VNS