On January 30, Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue met with President of the Philippines Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.
During the meeting, both sides affirmed the important role of the National Assembly in enhancing the Vietnam-Philippines Strategic Partnership; expressed confidence in the bright future of the bilateral relationship, with the high determination and goodwill of the leaders of both countries, the close cooperation tradition over the past 50 years, and the joint efforts to foster the development of the Vietnam-Philippines relationship for peace, development, prosperity in the region and the world for the next 50 years.
Welcoming the outcomes of the talks between President Vu Van Thang and President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., the Chairman of the National Assembly emphasized that the President’s visit is a strong impetus to strengthen the Vietnam-Philippines Strategic Partnership, actively implement the Action Program for the 2019 – 2024 period, aiming for a 10-year Strategic Partnership in 2025 and 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2026.
President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. highlighted that in recent times, the two countries have maintained regular high-level contacts, which is clear evidence of the importance that both Vietnam and the Philippines attach to the bilateral relationship. The President of the Philippines expressed confidence that both sides will make joint efforts and positive contributions to the implementation of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
Stating that Vietnam is currently the only strategic partner of the Philippines in the region, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. considered the meetings between the two sides, especially during this visit, as an opportunity to further promote and strengthen the relationship between the two countries for peace, development, and prosperity of both sides and the region.
Regarding the bilateral relationship, the President of the Philippines stated that maritime cooperation is one of the foundations of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries. In addition to that, both sides have implemented cooperation in many fields such as defense, economy, culture…
The President of the Philippines also believes that in the face of many challenges, both countries still have many opportunities to enhance cooperation. This is demonstrated through the increasingly strengthened relationship between the two National Assemblies in terms of coordination and exchange of experience in policy-making and law enforcement.
In a friendly, open, and mutual understanding atmosphere, during the meeting, the two leaders exchanged views on the bilateral relationship, the two National Assemblies, common concerns, and agreed on many contents to continue to promote and strengthen the cooperative relationship between the two countries.
In terms of economic cooperation, Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue and President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. assessed this as a bright spot in the bilateral relationship. The bilateral trade turnover in 2022 reached USD 7.8 billion – the highest level so far, and reached USD 7.1 billion as of November 2023. The Philippines is the 6th largest trading partner of Vietnam in ASEAN and one of Vietnam’s largest rice import markets. Both sides agreed to strive to achieve USD 10 billion in bilateral trade based on the balance of interests of both sides, to reduce trade barriers and facilitate access to each other’s markets for goods and services.
The President of the Philippines believes that the two countries have a lot of potential for trade and investment cooperation; affirms the Philippines’ interest in enhancing cooperation with Vietnam, striving together to achieve the goal of bilateral trade exchange reaching USD 10 billion and expanding cooperation in other fields.
At the same time, he believes that both sides need to make use of agreements such as RCEP…, closely coordinate with Vietnam to simplify investment procedures, minimize trade barriers to build a transparent business environment and contribute to economic development.
Chairman of the National Assembly stated that the National Assembly of Vietnam, together with the Government, is making efforts to improve and upgrade the legal system to ensure a favorable investment and business environment, and enhance competitiveness. With that spirit, in 2023, the National Assembly has reviewed regulations focused on the investment and business sector. It is expected that in 2024, there will be a review of administrative reform and administrative procedures to jointly create the most favorable and healthy investment and business environment with the Government.
Along with that, the National Assembly and the Government of Vietnam are always ready to listen to the recommendations of the business community, including Philippine businesses. The Chairman of the National Assembly wishes to have more and more businesses coming to Vietnam for business and investment, and vice versa, more and more Vietnamese businesses interested in investing in the Philippines market.
The Chairman of the National Assembly welcomes the support of the Philippines for Vietnamese labor and citizens; proposes that both sides soon sign the Labor Cooperation Agreement; share experiences in vocational training, building labor policy, employment, and social protection, responding to social impacts caused by the pandemic and climate change…; encourage the Friendship Association of the two countries to increase substantive and effective activities; expand local cooperation and promote People-to-People exchanges, business-to-business connections, and local-to-local connections.
During the meeting, both sides were pleased with the deepening cooperation between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Philippine National Assembly, especially since the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines approved resolutions to further strengthen the Vietnam-Philippines Parliamentary relationship.
Both sides agreed that the two National Assemblies continue to promote the cooperation between the two National Assemblies, open up new cooperation, both bilateral and multilateral; promote exchanges of Delegations, cooperation between the leaders and specialized agencies of the National Assembly; exchange experiences in parliamentary activities, especially in coordinating the construction of the legal framework for investment activities, economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
