Category: Politics

Hanoi: Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho and a high-ranking delegation of the Finnish Parliament arrived in Hanoi at noon on March 24, beginning a three-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

The delegation was welcomed at the Noi Bai International Airport by Vice Chairman of the NA’s Committee for Foreign Affairs Le Anh Tuan and Finnish Ambassador to Vietnam Keijo Norvanto, among others.

This is the first visit to a country outside Europe by Jussi Halla-aho since he took office and he is visiting only Vietnam this time, showing Vietnam’s special position in Finland’s foreign policy, as well as the good friendship between the two legislatures.

The visit also aims to mark the 50th founding anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations (1973 – 2023).

The visit is expected to help strengthen the cooperative relations between the two countries in various areas, Don Tuan Phong, Vice Chairman of the NA’s Committee for Foreig
n Affairs, spoke to the media ahead of the visit.

According to the official, over the past 51 years, the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Finland have been maintained and developed well. Finland always gives Vietnam much attention and support.

Finland has continuously provided non-refundable aid to Vietnam since the two countries established diplomatic relations. Economic-trade-investment cooperation is a top priority in their relations.

Two-way trade has continuously increased, reaching nearly 380 million USD in 2023. However, it is still a modest number, especially in the context of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) taking effect in 2020.

Regarding investment, Finland currently ranks 58th out of 140 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 35 valid projects worth over 47 million USD, which also remains modest rate compared to Finland’s economic potential and strengths, Phong said.

Therefore, Phong said, through this visit, leaders of the two c
ountries will discuss measures to further strengthen economic, trade, and investment cooperation, particularly how to raise trade turnover, increase Finnish investment in Vietnam, and attract more Finnish businesses to Vietnam, especially in fields where the European country has strengths and Vietnam has demand like high technology, digital transformation, education-training, and component production.

The official informed that the top legislators of Vietnam and Finland are scheduled to discuss measures to strengthen cooperation between the two legislatures, especially in exchanging experience in legislation and supreme supervision, and deciding on important national issues./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Dak Nong: A ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of Dak Nong (January 1, 2004 – 2024) was held in the Central Highlands province on March 23 evening, with the attendance of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

As heard at the event, after two decades, Dak Nong has risen from a poor and underdeveloped province to achieving a high economic growth rate. It has witnessed a 12-fold increase in regional gross domestic product, a 20-fold increase in total social investment capital, and a 13-fold increase in per capita income compared to 2004.

On behalf of the Party and State’s leaders, NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue awarded a first-class Independence Order to Dak Nong at the ceremony.

In his remarks, the leader highlighted the province’s crucial position in the Central Highlands region and the nation in terms of socio-economic development, national defence, and security.

He noted that in addition to owning two internationally recognised heritages, which are the Gong culture space and t
he Dak Nong global geopark, the province is blessed with favourable natural conditions, including climate and soil, for agricultural and tourism development as well as for becoming the hub for bauxite-aluminum industry in the country.

Lauding Dak Nong’s progress so far, he urged the local authorities to promptly implement the provincial master planning scheme for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, through specific programmes and tasks. The aim is to become a relatively developed province in the Central Highlands region, a national centre for bauxite-aluminum industry, and a hub for renewable energy in the region by 2030.

Chairman Hue recommended the province to develop resort and eco-tourism, leveraging its advantages in climate, natural landscapes, and cultural identity.

The NA Chairman said as a locality where 40 ethnic groups are living together, it needs to concentrate resources on caring for and improving the living standards of the communities, while effectively implementing land policies.

Given its
critical role in national defence and security, Dak Nong must steadfastly maintain the country’s defence, security, and border sovereignty, and ensure political stability, social order and safety, especially in rural and religious areas, he said.

The leader also stressed the importance of continuing to strengthen Party building work, with a focus on ensuring transparency, promoting anti-corruption efforts, practicing thrift and combating wastefulness./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Tien Giang: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has urged the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang to achieve harmonious development in the fields of socio-economy, culture and environment while ensuring national defence and security.

At a working session with the Standing Board of the provincial Party Committee on March 24, PM Chinh said, with unique potential and competitive advantages, Tien Giang is well-positioned to develop its industries, trade and services, acting as one of the key growth poles in the Mekong Delta.

He asked the province to effectively carry out the 13th National Party Congress’s Resolution and the Party’s policies and guidelines on orientations to the region’s socio-economic development, national defence-security; the State’s policies and laws, the Government and PM’s directions and Resolution adopted by the provincial Party Congress.

Tien Giang must pursue faster and more sustainable development, relying on sci-tech, green transition, sharing and circular economy, and e-commerce, he said
, adding that it must also reform administrative procedures, improve the local business environment by building a healthy, transparent and united administrative system.

Looking ahead, the province was tasked with effectively carrying out its master planning scheme for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, with a focus on socio-economic infrastructure via foreign direct investment and public-private partnerships.

Its rankings in indices reflecting the business and investment environment must be improved, such as the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI), the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR INDEX), alongside provincial-level digital transformation and innovation rankings.

The provincial Party Organisation was assigned to pay attention to building a strong and clean Party and political system while fighting corruption, negative phenomena and wastefulness.

Vowing to deal with the province’s proposals, delegates sugge
sted that Tien Giang should focus on overcoming challenges posed by climate change, landslides, subsidence and saline intrusion.

They also advised the province to pool all resources for strategic infrastructure development, and build major industrial hubs for manufacturing and processing, agro-aquatic product processing, and strengthening connectivity between local production and supply chains with regional and global markets./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has chaired the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) Co-ordinating Meeting held within the framework of the 148 Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Addressing the meeting, Speaker of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova said that this was the first APA co-ordinating meeting held under the aegis of the Inter-Parliamentary Union with Azerbaijani chairmanship.

The participants heard the report on the activity of APA since the last meeting, as well as the planned calendar events by the end of this year.

Then, representatives of the member countries shared their views on the current issues, as well as the proposals and topics to be discussed by the APA countries within the framework of preparation for the 148th Assembly of the IPU.

The meeting continued with the speeches of the representatives of the parliaments of the APA Member States regarding the APA common position statement at the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, as well as about fu
rther deepening of cooperation within the Organization.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency

Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has met with Speaker of the National Assembly of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana Manzoor Nadir on the sidelines of the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held in Geneva, the Swiss Confederation.

During the meeting, the sides emphasized that the meetings held under the aegis of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and within other international organizations, as well as the dialogue help broaden the relations between the legislative assemblies.

Speaker of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova underlined the fact that parliamentarians represent their nations, adding that deepening the links between the legislatures also brought the nations closer.

The sides discussed cooperation within international organizations. They underlined the significance of the links within the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that was established at the initiative of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova informed her colleague of
the global initiatives that President Ilham Aliyev had put forward during Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement. She underscored the importance of the emergence of the Organization’s Parliamentary Network for the progress of parliamentary diplomacy. The Speaker underscored that the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network had held one constituent and two sequential conferences so far.

Speaker of the National Assembly of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana Manzoor Nadir highlighted the importance of inter-legislature links, noting that his country attaches special attention to cooperation in international parliamentary entities.

During the meeting, the sides underlined that both countries attach great significance to tolerance and multicultural values. The Speakers of Parliament shared their views on the inadmissibility of national, racial and religious discrimination currently observed worldwide.

The parties also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

Source: Azerbaijan Sta
te News Agency

President of the Argentine Republic Javier Milei has sent a congratulatory letter to Ilham Aliyev on his re-election as the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

“I was very pleased that the foreign ministers of our countries recently had a very productive telephone conversation that served the development of our bilateral relations,” the Argentine President noted.

“Based on the principles of friendship and respect that underpin our relations, I would like to reiterate that I will continue to spare no effort to strengthen our bilateral cooperation and economic relations in areas of mutual interest for the welfare of our countries.

I once again convey my sincerest congratulations to you on your new presidential term and, avail myself of this opportunity to express my deep respect and consideration to you,” President Javier Milei emphasized.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency

Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has sent letters of condolences to Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

In her letters, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova said that she was deeply shocked and saddened by the news of the tragic events at the Crocus City Concert Hall that had resulted in civilian deaths. The Speaker of the Milli Majlis condemned this monstrous act of terror.

On her own behalf and on behalf of the Members of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Speaker Gafarova extended condolences to all the people of Russia, the members of the Federation Council and the State Duma, and the families and friends of those killed, and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency