The signing ceremony was witnessed by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and his Hungarian counterpart László Kovér.

Per the pact, the cooperation contents focus on topics that Vietnam needs experience and Hungary has strengths such as asset recovery mechanism in corruption cases, one-stop shop mechanism, the application of information technology in civil judgment enforcement, and non-conviction based confiscation, among several others.

The formats of activities will be flexibly implemented in both online and offline forms following specific situations.

Also on the same day, the two ministers had a working session to discuss ways to beef up the two ministries’ legal and judicial collaboration.

Highlighting extensive room remained for judicial cooperation, Long hoped the Hungarian side, who is experienced in legal system building and judicial reform, will further support his ministry and other Vietnamese legal and judicial agencies.

Agreeing with Long, Varga said Hungary has many famous law faculties and hoped that Vietnamese students will choose them for their study abroad.

Concurring with Varga on the importance of legal training collaboration in sustaining strong legal and judicial ties between the two sides, Long said he will pay attention to the matter in the time to come.

He also invited the Hungarian minister to visit Vietnam at a appropriate time, and Varga accepted the invitation with pleasure.

Vietnamese, Hungarian top legislators hold talks

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and his Hungarian counterpart László Kövér had in-depth talks in Budapest on June 27 (local time) on various issues in the Vietnam-Hungary relations with parliamentary cooperation and coordination at international and regional mechanisms as an important pillar.

Welcoming the Vietnamese top legislator and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to Hungary, Kövér affirmed that Hungary considers Vietnam an important partner in Southeast Asia. He highlighted that the friendship and cooperation between the two countries have been tested in difficult times during COVID-19 period. He thanked the Vietnamese NA for giving Australia sincere support in the first days of COVID-19 outbreak.

NA Chairman Hue congratulated Hungary on the successful organisation of the parliamentary election in April, as well as Kövér on being elected as the Speaker of the Hungarian NA for the fourth time. As a close friend of Hungary, Vietnam always follows the country’s developments and congratulates Hungary on its socio-economic achievements as well as rising position and prestige in the region and the world.

Both sides shared pleasure at the sound traditional friendship and all-round cooperation over the past 70 years, and agreed that despite a long geographic distance, the two countries share many similarities in cultural tradition and common values, which is a foundation for them to deepen their multifaceted partnership.

Regarding regional and international issues, they agreed on the need to respect the independence and sovereignty of states, settle disputes in international relations through peaceful measures, uphold the law and protect the interests of countries and nations in line with international law. The two countries have shared the viewpoints and showed close coordination at international forums, they added.

NA Chairman Hue affirmed that the State, NA and people of Vietnam always remember the effective support that Hungary has given Vietnam during the past struggle for independence as well as the current national construction, defence and development.

Hungary, one of the first countries to recognise and set up diplomatic relations with Vietnam, has helped Vietnam train many officials, including many senior leaders, he noted, stressing that Vietnam always treasures and hopes to further foster the all-round partnership with Hungary - the first comprehensive partner of Vietnam in the central eastern European region.

He thanked Hungary for providing Vietnam with COVID-19 vaccines and medical equipment, helping it overcome difficulties and put the pandemic under control. Thanks to the support from the international community, including Hungary, from a country facing a shortage of vaccines, Vietnam has become one of the leading countries in COVID-19 vaccine coverage, he added.

The two NA leaders briefed each other of the political, socio-economic situation and the NA operations in each country. NA Chairman Hue said that after putting COVID-19 under good control, Vietnam has switched to a new period of opening and recovering with the aim of reaching an economic growth of 6.5-7 percent.

For his part, Kövér said that Hungary is enjoying good recovery and growth, and is willing to share its experience with Vietnam.

The two sides highly valued positive progress in the bilateral relations over the years, reflected through meetings of high-ranking leaders and officials at all levels. Particularly, during the Hungarian visit by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in 2018, the two countries lifted up their ties to a comprehensive partnership, they noted.

Economic cooperation between the two countries has also developed despite COVID-19 impacts, with increasing two-way trade, they said. NA Chairman Hue thanked the Hungarian NA and Government for actively supporting the signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Hungary has been the first EU member to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), creating favourable conditions for businesses of both sides to expand their partnership. Vietnam is willing to act as a bridge connecting Hungary with ASEAN and the region, NA Chairman Hue stated. Meanwhile, the top Hungarian legislator proposed that Vietnam strengthen trade ties with the group of four Central European countries (VISEGRAD) and Europe in general. The two sides agreed to develop the bilateral trade ties in a balanced and sustainable manner.

They concurred that it is necessary for the two countries to expand their science-technology collaboration in areas of environmental protection, climate change response, especially green agriculture, high-quality and clean farm produce processing.

Regarding development cooperation, NA Chairman Hue thanked Hungary for giving Vietnam a priority in the field over the years. The two sides agreed to hasten the two governments to remove the remaining barriers for the Can Tho Oncology Hospital project funded by Hungarian ODA, striving to complete the humanitarian project as soon as possible.

Mentioning cooperation in culture and people-to-people exchange, they underlined the need to promote tourism collaboration. They will work together for the establishment of a Hungarian cultural centre in Hanoi.

The 200 Hungarian scholarships have contributed to training high human resources for Vietnam, they said.

NA Chairman Hue took the occasion to thank the Hungarian State for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to settle down in Hungary and contribute to fostering the friendship and partnership between the two countries.

The two NA leaders also spent much time discussing the relationship between the two NAs, and shared delight at their growing ties that have become a model of parliamentary cooperation between Vietnam and European countries. They agreed to coordinate with and support each other at multilateral parliamentary forums, while maintaining the exchange of high-level delegations, those of specialised NA committees and Friendship Parliamentary Groups, aiming to exchange information and experience in parliamentary activities, and promoting coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, including the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP).

On the occasion, the two leaders signed an agreement on cooperation between the two NAs in the next period with deeper and more extensive contents that are suitable with the new context and situation. Under the deal, both sides will work together to organise a seminar on improving the legal framework on greenhouse gas emission reduction, renewable energy and green economy. 

NA Chairman Hue also invited the Hungarian NA Speaker to visit Vietnam, and received his acceptance.

Following the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements between the Vietnamese and Hungarian Ministries of Justice.

After that, they had a meeting with the media, during which they affirmed that their talks were successful. The Vietnamese and Hungarian NAs commit to work closely together for the practical interest and prosperity of both nations, they said.

“I and my Hungarian counterpart had a very successful conversation, not only on the relations between the two parliaments but also on orientations and measures to promote the comprehensive partnership between the two countries in the time to come. Along with bolstering and bettering political and diplomatic ties, we agreed that the two parliaments will continue to strengthen government and parliamentary cooperation to enhance the efficiency of our collaboration in economy, trade, investment, education-training, labour, science-technology as well as other areas that Vietnam and Hungary boast high potential for development,” stated NA Chairman Hue.

He stressed that with the newly signed agreement, the Vietnamese legislature hopes to make its ties with the Hungarian NA a model of parliamentary cooperation between Vietnam and European countries and in the world and an important pillar in the Vietnam-Hungary comprehensive partnership. He expressed his belief that the Vietnam-Hungary ties will further thrive.

Earlier the same day, NA Chairman Hue and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation laid a wreath at the Heroes' Square in Budapest.

Vietnam - Hungary legislative conference talks legal framework for green development

Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Vuong Dinh Hue and his Hungarian counterpart László Kövér co-chaired a legislative conference in Budapest on June 27, with a focus on the legal framework on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction, renewable energy, and the green economy.

In his remarks, Kövér said Hungary is always determined to protect the environment, which is clearly reflected in its development orientations and legal regulations. Its climate policy was adapted to the European Union (EU)’s requirements but didn’t neglect its own features and its people’s interests.

Hungary was one of the first countries to issue legal mechanisms for realising the goals of reducing 40 percent of GHG emissions by 1990 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Its law on environmental protection includes mechanisms for ensuring costs of carbon neutrality will not slow down the country’s development process, according to the Hungarian leader.

Hue, who has been paying an official visit to Hungary, noted that, at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), Vietnam pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, which is a very strong political commitment that shows its resolve to cope with climate change, reduce GHG emissions, and transit to a green and circular economy, and also demonstrates the country’s activeness and sense of responsibility towards the international community’s common efforts to protect the earth.

Vietnam will continue acting swiftly, strongly, and comprehensively with a focus on transitioning to green and sustainable energy and developing climate adaptive infrastructure. It considers this as a chance to promote a green, circular, low carbon, and sustainable development model, he said.

Hue added that aside from its own efforts and resources, Vietnam also wishes to receive close cooperation from international partners, including Hungry. Its parliament hopes to learn from other countries’ experience in making and perfecting laws and policies on GHG emission reduction, renewable energy development, and a green and circular economy with sustainable development.

The Vietnamese leader also called on Hungary to share experience in taking measures for concurrently realising commitments and ensuring benefits for the economy and people.

The top legislator of Vietnam shared Kövér and other officials’ viewpoint that sustainable development is not an issue of a single country but a global issue requiring close cooperation among nations.

Opinions raised at the legislative conference, the fourth of its kind held by the two parliaments, gave important policy recommendations to each country and also proved that this was an effective cooperation mechanism between the two NAs, he added.

Hue expressed his belief that with the newly signed agreement, the NAs of Vietnam and Hungary will have much room and many opportunities for boosting relations.

Educational cooperation between Vietnam and Hungary should be promoted: Deputy PM

Vietnam and Hungary should promote cooperation to effectively implement education agreements that were signed by the two countries, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh has said.

Thanh made the suggestion at the Vietnam-Hungary Higher Education Cooperation Conference held on June 27 (local time) in Budapest, as part of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue's official visit to the European country.

Hungary has strengths in training fields such as medicine, electronics, energy, literature and arts, especially in high-tech agriculture, agro-processing industry, and law, Thanh said, adding that Vietnam has high demand for human resources in this regard for the country's renewal process

He said that in the long term, it is necessary for training and research institutions to devise specific solutions to promote stronger educational collaboration between the two countries in the above-mentioned fields, especially the organisation of business trips and exchange of delegations of universities and research institutes to learn from each other.

Over the past 72 years of cooperation and development, the two countries have achieved outstanding achievements in all fields, including special contributions of education and training cooperation between Hungary and Vietnam.

The agreement on educational cooperation signed in 2013 between the two nations was clear evidence of the commitments to promote the bilateral partnership, he said.

Currently, there are more than 600 Vietnamese students studying and working in Hungary, and the latter grants 200 scholarships to Vietnam each year, Thanh added.           

Balazs Hanko, Secretary of State of the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation, affirmed that the two countries will continue to build effective cooperative relationships between universities and colleges, thereby further enhancing their long-standing traditional friendship.

At the conference, representatives of Vietnamese and Hungarian universities delivered presentations on a number of topics such as digital transformation in higher education, cooperation in medicine and pharmacy between Vietnam and Hungary, digitisation as well as promoting international collaboration in Hungarian universities.

At the conference, Vietnamese universities and Hungarian partners signed nine memoranda of understanding on cooperation in the fields of training and scientific research.

NA leader’s Hungary visit grabs headlines on Eastern European media

Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue's official visit to Hungary has attracted attention from the media in Eastern Europe.

In Hungary, Magyar Nemzet (Hungarian Nation) newspaper ran an article saying the two countries’ traditional friendship has recorded great strides, especially since the visit to Vietnam by Prime Minister Orban Viktor and a trip to the European nation by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong.

Hue's visit from June 25-28 would create a stepping stone for the two countries’ comprehensive partnership to enter a new chapter in the time ahead, particularly after Vietnam and the European Union (EU) completed the ratification of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and a free trade agreement (EVFTA), according to Magyar Nemzet.

In its writing, Magyar Hang (Hungarian Voice) newspaper said the two countries’ comprehensive partnership has been growing strongly, and that Hungary was one of the first countries to ratify the EVFTA and EVIPA.

It also noted Vietnam has bigger advantages compared to other Southeast Asian nations when it comes to trade with the EU thanks to the two agreements.

ParlamentniListy.cz, the biggest commentary website in the Czech Republic, also posted an article on the top Vietnamese legislator’s visit to Hungary.

It highlighted Vietnam’s considerable achievements in economic development and multilateral diplomacy amid numerous uncertainties facing the global economy, adding that the trip is of great significance as it demonstrates Vietnamese leaders’ attention to enhancing relations with Eastern European countries.

Meanwhile, the Naše Pravda (Our Truth) website of the Czech Communist Party focused on the cooperation between Vietnam and Eastern Europe and highly valued the Southeast Asian country’s success in maintaining economic development, ensuring social security, and containing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The article also said Vietnam’s foreign policy implemented via the Party and parliamentary channels has proved highly effective, and that the long-standing relations between Vietnam and the Czech Republic are flourishing.

A writing on Poland’s Korso Kolbuszowskie newspaper noted Vietnam’s achievements in socio-economic development, COVID-19 control, and attraction of foreign investment to the green and renewable energy industry.

It perceived that the country is right in its strategy for multilateralising and diversifying external relations, and that the visit to European countries demonstrates the importance Vietnam attaches to the cooperation and friendship with European nations, including Eastern European states.

News platform EUtoday.net published an article on opportunities for cooperation between Vietnam, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU in response to new challenges in the Indo-Pacific.

It said ASEAN countries are identified as partners with a central role in the EU's Indo-Pacific strategy. Meanwhile, Hue's visit is an opportunity for European leaders and Vietnam to exchange and strengthen political trust, further increasing the effectiveness of Vietnam - EU cooperation in international and regional issues.

NA Chairman receives Hungary-Vietnam Friendship Association's leaders

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue received a delegation of the Hungary-Vietnam Friendship Association led by its President Botz László in Budapest on June 27.

Hue said that the Vietnamese NA high-ranking delegation's ongoing official visit to Hungary aims to further promote and deepen the comprehensive partnership between the two countries and cooperation between the two parliaments in particular, opening up new prospects in bilateral relations as well as stronger coordination between the two countries at regional and international forums amid complicated global developments.

Highlighting the traditional friendship and all-round partnership between the two countries over the past 70 years, the top legislator clarified that Vietnam always treasures and hopes to further bolster multifaceted ties with Hungary – the first comprehensive partner of Vietnam in Central and Eastern Europe.   

For his part, László reviewed major milestones of the Hungary-Vietnam Friendship Association’s development since it was established in 1989, and highlighted a number of activities that the association has carried out recently and its plans to promote the Hungary-Vietnam friendship in the field of people-to-people diplomacy, thus contributing to the growth of the comprehensive partnership between the two countries.

He recalled his memories of Vietnam during the war and lauded the positive progress in the ties between the two countries, while underlining that leaders of the association had the chance to join meaningful activities during Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to Hungary in 2018, during which Vietnam and Hungary lifted their relationship to a comprehensive partnership.

Hue said that Vietnam always remembers the support Hungary offered Vietnam during the past struggle for national liberation and reunification, and its current process of national construction and development, while showing delight at the growing partnership between the two countries in many fields as well as fruitful cooperation between the two legislatures.

He spoke highly of the active operations of the Vietnam-Hungary Friendship Association and the Hungary-Vietnam Friendship Association, while expressing his hope that the two associations will continue to increase their cooperation through more delegation exchanges, thus raising Vietnamese and Hungarian people’s awareness, especially among youngsters, of the sound relations between the two countries. They should diversify their people-to-people exchanges and make more contributions to the development of ties between the two countries, he said.

The top legislator also showed his hope that with their experience and reputation, leaders of the Hungary-Vietnam Friendship Association will continue to coordinate closely with the Vietnamese Embassy in Hungary as well as Vietnamese organisations in the country to effectively implement activities in both countries.               

Hue held that economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries remains modest compared to their bilateral sound political relations and collaboration potential. Leaders of both countries shared the wish to further expand and accelerate the bilateral partnership, especially in economy, trade, investment, education, and science-technology, he said. 

The Vietnamese leader also said he hoped that the Hungary-Vietnam Friendship Association will continue to promote its active role to make positive contributions to this process.

Source: VNA