Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will attend the 138th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU-138) and related meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, from March 24-25 and pay an official visit to the Netherlands from March 26-28.

Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

Chairwoman Ngan’s attendance at the 138th IPU Assembly will be made at the invitation of IPU President Gabriela Cuevas Barron, while her trip to the Netherland will be made at the invitation of Speaker of the House of Representatives Khadija Arib, the NA’s Committee for External Affairs announced on March 20.

Since Vietnam joined the IPU in April 1979, its active participation has been acknowledged and appreciated by other members. Over the years, relations between the Vietnamese National Assembly and other parliaments have been strengthened. 

In October 2007 at the 117th IPU Assembly also in Geneva, Switzerland, Vietnam’s NA was elected to the IPU Executive Committee - the forum’s highest body - for the first time. 

Vietnam was designated as IPU Vice President in 2009. In this role, the country contributed effectively to the forum, optimising international support. 

Notably, in April 2015, Vietnam hosted the 132nd IPU Assembly, where the Hanoi Declaration was adopted, contributing to devising the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. 

In October 2016, at the 135th IPU Assembly in Switzerland, Chairman of the NA’s Committee for External Affairs Nguyen Van Giau was elected to the IPU Executive Committee for the 2016-2019 period. 

Vietnam and the Netherlands officially established diplomatic relations on April 9, 1973.

The Vietnam-Netherlands relationship is an example of dynamic and effective ties between Vietnam and a European country. The Netherlands was the largest trade partner of Vietnam in the EU with bilateral trade reaching 2.9 billion USD in the first five months of 2017. The Netherlands was also the biggest European investor in Vietnam with 287 valid projects worth 7.7 billion USD by May 2017.-VNA