Vietnam attends Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting

Rome, October 9 (VNA) – A Vietnamese delegation led by the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Economic Affairs, Nguyen Van Giau, attended the 8th Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP-8) Meeting in Rome, Italy, on October 7. The meeting, entitled “the role of parliaments in fostering Europe-Asia dialogue, sustainable growth and stronger governance structures”, drew the participation of hundreds of delegates from the national parliaments of 50 Asian and European countries, the European Parliament, and representatives of the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and other international organisations. They took part in two discussions on “economic and financial governance structures” and “sustainable growth and food security”. In his speech during the first discussion, Chairman Giau emphasised the ongoing economic restructuring processes in many countries, including Vietnam, and highlighted the increasing role of legislative bodies in economic and financial management and governance. He said parliaments were becoming more involved in creating economic linkages and integration processes. He called upon ASEP member nations to increase cooperation and the exchange of experience, and set up dialogue and information sharing mechanisms within and between parliaments to reinvigorate the economic and financial state of each country. In the second discussion, Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat and Italian Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies Maurizio Martina were the keynote speakers. Addressing the function, Minister Phat highlighted the efforts undertaken by national governments to ensure food and nutritional security and sustainable development. However, more than 1 billion people around the globe were suffering from starvation while the impact of climate change on food production was growing, he noted. The official shared Vietnam’s experience in agricultural development in the past three decades and underlined its major objective to improve competitiveness to promote integration and cope with climate change. He also took this chance to call for more assistance from the international community to help Vietnam achieve sustainable agricultural development targets. Concluding his speech, Minister Phat said ASEP could play an important role in strengthening cooperation between member states and the international community for the sake of sustainable agricultural development and food security. He also asked national parliaments and governments around the world to pay more attention to the issue, intensify the exchange of expertise and technology transfers, and provide financial support to underdeveloped countries. On the sidelines of ASEP-8, Minister Phat and Italian Minister Maurizio Martina held a meeting during which they agreed to ratify a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on agriculture, food safety and hygiene, agricultural trade, and sharing experience, science and technology in the near future. ASEP-8 is part of the Asia-Europe Meeting 2014 (ASEM 2014), scheduled for October 16-17 in Italy, with the participation of leaders from 50 member countries. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will lead the Vietnamese delegation.-VNA