An entourage from Vietnam’s National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee is on a six-day visit to Italy, from July 27 to June 2, to share best practice on dealing with voters’ complaints.

The eight-member delegation led by Nguyen Duc Hien, Head of the Commission for People’s Aspirations, discussed how both countries deal with complaints from members of the public, how votera’ petitions are processed and how the authorised agencies that deal with these complaints are supervised.

In Vietnam, this jurisdiction falls under the Commission for People’s Aspirations.

Since their arrival, the delegation have met with the Standing Committee for Constitutional Affairs in the Italian Chamber of Deputies and have explored issues that are common to both Vietnam’s National Assembly and Italy’s Parliament.

The Chairman of the Standing Committee for Constitutional Affairs, Bruno Donato, said Italy recognizes that the two countries have a long-standing cooperative relationship.

Previous meetings and visits made by senior diplomats from both countries for various different reasons have provided a foundation for this cooperation.

Donato stressed that the Italian Chamber of Deputies is keen to strengthen relations with Vietnam, especially with the country’s National Assembly.

Mr Hien echoed Donato’s buoyant words stating that in recent years, Vietnamese and Italian relations have been carefully nurtured. He added that he hopes the relationship will become stronger, particularly in wake of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, which will be celebrated in 2013.

Earlier in the trip, the delegation met with officials from Lazio’s Regional Administrative Court and they are scheduled to meet with officials from Lazio’s Ombudsman for People’s Aspirations on July 2.

* Vietnam considers EU a leading partner: NA Chairman

The EU has always been a leading partner with priorities in Vietnam's foreign policies, says National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung.

Mr Hung reaffirmed this at a June 29 reception in Hanoi for Franz Jessen, new head of the European Union Delegation to Vietnam.

The Viet Nam-EU relations had experienced a leap forwards over the past few years, he said, adding that two-way trade volumes reached US$24 billion last year, up 36 percent compared to 2010.

The signing of the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement  between the two sides and the start of negotiations for a free-trade agreement in Brussels earlier this week were important milestones in the bilateral relations.

He also spoke highly of positive cooperation between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the European Parliament.
For his part, Jessen affirmed Vietnam's important position in the EU's external relations.

The EU highly values Vietnam's role in bridging the EU with ASEAN, he said.

Jessen also said he will do his utmost to contribute to enhancing ties between Vietnamese NA and the European Parliament.

VNN/VNA/VOVonline