Opening of the Francophone Parliamentary Cooperation Forum on Agriculture and Climate Change

On the morning of January 21, in Can Tho City, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attended and delivered the opening speech at the Francophone Parliamentary Cooperation Forum on sustainable agriculture , food security and climate change response. This event was proposed and organized by the Vietnamese National Assembly on the occasion of hosting the Conference of the Executive Board of the Francophone Parliamentary Union (APF).

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man delivers opening speech at the Forum - Photo: VGP/LS

Attending the Forum on the Vietnamese side were Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai, Head of the Organizing Committee of the APF Executive Committee Conference; Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Vu Hai Ha, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee of the APF Executive Committee Conference; Chairman of the Social Committee Nguyen Thuy Anh, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Sub-Committee at APF; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan; Secretary of the Can Tho City Party Committee Do Thanh Binh and representatives of relevant departments, ministries, branches and Can Tho City.

On the side of APF and international organizations, there were: APF President, First Vice President of the Cameroon National Assembly Hilarion Etong; General Director of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) Caroline St-Hilaire; President, Vice President, representatives of leaders of Parliaments of APF member countries; parliamentarians, Ambassadors, Heads of diplomatic missions, international organizations...

Speaking at the opening of the Forum, on behalf of the National Assembly and the people of Vietnam, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man warmly welcomed the leaders of APF member parliaments, delegations of member parliaments and observers, and invited guests who accepted the invitation and attended the Forum organized by the National Assembly of Vietnam in Can Tho City - the economic, cultural and social center of the Mekong Delta region.

The National Assembly Chairman stated that following the successes of recent high-level multilateral inter-parliamentary activities hosted by the Vietnamese National Assembly, such as the 41st General Assembly of the Parliaments of Southeast Asian Countries (2020), the 10th Asia-Pacific Conference of the APF (2022), the 9th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians of the IPU (2023), the organization of the Parliamentary Forum on Francophone Cooperation and the APF Executive Committee Meeting this time once again affirms Vietnam's proactiveness, positivity, and responsibility in multilateral cooperation frameworks; at the same time, it shows Vietnam's priority, interest, and participation in common regional and global issues; and solidarity and companionship for the development of the Francophone Community and its member countries.

Sharing with delegates about Vietnam after nearly 40 years of implementing the Doi Moi process, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man said: Vietnam has achieved achievements in sustainable hunger eradication and poverty reduction as well as in implementing the Millennium Development Goals and moving towards sustainable development goals according to the United Nations Agenda 2030.

Vietnam has just entered 2024 with many impressive achievements: Economic growth reached 7.09%, the economic scale reached about 476 billion USD; inflation was controlled below 4%; total import-export turnover recorded a record 786 billion USD, of which 62 billion USD came from agriculture; foreign investment attracted about 38.2 billion USD, of which realized FDI capital was about 25.4 billion USD; major balances of the economy were ensured, and the macro economy was maintained stable.

Agriculture is one of the important achievements that Vietnam has achieved in recent times. During the difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic, agriculture has been a pillar of the economy. Thanks to solid investment in agriculture, Vietnam not only ensures food security but also provides food and agricultural products to the world. In 2024, agricultural, forestry and fishery exports reached a record, of which rice exports reached more than 9 million tons, reaching a value of about 5.7 billion USD.

Towards the 100th anniversary of the founding of the country, Vietnam is aiming to enter the era of national development, with the desire for an era of rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness, and civilization; successfully implementing strategic goals by 2030 to become a developing country with modern industry and high average income; and by 2045 - to become a developed socialist country with high income. To achieve this goal, Vietnam has implemented many strong reform solutions and strategic breakthroughs, strongly arousing national spirit, spirit of autonomy, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-reliance, national pride and the country's development aspirations.

Delegates attending the Forum.

Today's Francophone parliamentary forum is one of the activities of the Francophone parliament following the Paris Summit. The Vietnamese National Assembly hopes that through this activity, it will contribute to promoting Francophone cooperation. Accordingly, it will encourage and support cooperation activities in science, technology, innovation, creativity, promoting the digital economy, startups, promoting public-private partnerships; promoting the French language, promoting cultural diversity; and emphasizing the determination of Francophone countries in implementing sustainable development, ensuring harmony between efforts for growth, poverty reduction and environmental protection.

In that spirit, the Vietnamese National Assembly organized the Forum to promote cooperation among countries in the Francophone community to build sustainable agriculture, ensure livelihoods for each household and food security for each country, along with responding to climate change globally.

According to the National Assembly Chairman, with the functions and roles of legislative bodies, parliaments as well as individual parliamentarians play a very important role in promoting and supervising the implementation of these goals. Today's forum is an opportunity for delegates to discuss ideas and actions of Francophone member parliaments to promote sustainable agriculture, ensure food security in the context of simultaneously responding to climate change; parliamentarians share lessons and good experiences in building policies and laws to develop sustainable agriculture, ensure food security, promote adaptation actions and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

The Forum is also an opportunity to discuss initiatives to promote cooperation among stakeholders, including countries, international organizations, including OIF, development partners, financial institutions and the private sector towards the goals set by the Forum's theme.

Accordingly, the Forum has 3 thematic discussion sessions on: "Cooperation between Francophone countries in the field of sustainable agriculture"; "The Francophone community and food security"; "Sharing experiences of countries and international cooperation in responding to climate change".

On January 22, delegates will visit some typical models of the Mekong Delta on sustainable agriculture and livelihood transformation, increasing the value of agricultural production while responding to climate change.

A highlight of the Forum is the expected adoption of the Can Tho Declaration on Francophone cooperation in sustainable agriculture, food security and climate change response. This will be an important result to affirm the important role of Francophone parliaments and the contributions of Francophone parliamentarians in joining hands to address global challenges, promote regional, inter-regional and multi-stakeholder cooperation, and contribute to turning commitments into concrete actions./.

According to baochinhphu.vn

Source: https://baocamau.vn/khai-mac-dien-dan-nghi-vien-hop-tac-phap-ngu-ve-nong-nghiep-va-bien-doi-khi-hau-a36881.html