Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu held talks in Hanoi on January 13 with his Hungarian counterpart Gergely Gulyas, who is on a working visit to Vietnam from January 12-16.  

NA Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu underlined the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries, adding that however, bilateral economic and trade ties fail to match the potential and expectation of both sides. 

He suggested the two sides review the implementation of agreements reached at the 6th session of the Vietnam-Hungary joint committee on economic cooperation and work together to build plans for the time ahead, to be submitted to the upcoming 7th session for discussion and approval. 

The NA Vice Chairman welcomed the signing of the framework credit agreement worth  400 million EUR between Vietnam and Hungary, saying that it will help boost bilateral economic and trade partnership. 

He urged Hungary to push for the European Union’s signing and ratification of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) as well as recognition of Vietnam’s market economy. 

Luu also asked for Hungary’s help in tourism, human resources training and heritage conservation. 

Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly Gergely Gulyas shared his host’s view that two-way trade, which reached 150 million USD in 2016, did not meet the potential and expectation of both countries. He affirmed that Hungary will advocate that the EU sign and ratify the EVFTA early. 

Underlining the fact that more than 4,000 Vietnamese studied in Hungary in the 1990s, the lawmaker said he hopes his country will grant more scholarships to Vietnamese students to pursue education in Hungary, particularly in the fields of engineering and medicine.  

Gergely Gulyas also hailed the signing of the framework agreement on credit cooperation as a big step forward in bilateral ties. He expressed the wish for stronger ties on tourism, and more contact between parliamentary agencies of the two countries to share experience in law building.

VNA