The National Assembly of Vietnam (NAV) and the European Parliament (EP) have attained high mutual trust through meetings, delegation exchanges and straightforward dialogues, NAV Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien told Chairman of the EP’s Committee on International Trade Bernd Lange on September 15.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam Phung Quoc Hien (R) meets with Chairman of the EP’s Committee on International Trade Bernd Lange on September 15

At the meeting in Hanoi, Hien hailed his guest’s working visit to Vietnam as an important contribution to the NAV-EP relations as well as the comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and the European Union (EU).

He noted with satisfaction that cooperation between the NAV and the EP has been one of the important pillars in the Vietnam-EU comprehensive cooperation. Notably, the EU-Vietnam Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation, which took effect on October 1, 2016, has created a crucial legal framework for promoting bilateral ties in a more comprehensive and intensive fashion.

Vietnam gives top priorities to legal review completion towards the signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), he noted.

Aside from economic benefits, the trade pact is also set to provide the EU, via Vietnam, with a big political stature in Asia and strengthen the union’s connectivity with the Southeast Asian and Asian-Pacific regions. It will also practically benefit both sides’ businesses and people, Hien added.

He also asked Bernd Lange and member parliamentarians of the Committee on International Trade to support the official signing and ratification of the EVFTA.

For his part, Lange voiced his hope for stronger EU-Vietnam comprehensive cooperation, noting that bilateral trade reached 45 billion USD in 2016 and 28.2 billion USD in the first seven months of 2017, up 14 percent year-on-year. The EU is also the second biggest export market and the fifth largest investor of Vietnam.

He said on his position, he will make all-out efforts to contribute to enhancing economic, trade and investment relations between the two sides.

VNA