Vivid evidence shows that the Vietnamese National Assembly is a proactive, active and responsible member of the IPU and multilateral forums.

At the invitation of President of the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) Tulia Ackson and Secretary General of the IPU Martin Chungong, President of the Senate of the Uzbekistani Parliament Tanzila Narbaeva, President of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan, Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man, on behalf of the leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam and his wife, along with a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam, attended the 150th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-150) and paid an official visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Armenia from April 2 to 8.

The National Assembly Chairman and his wife left the capital Yerevan for Tashkent, Uzbekistan to attend the 150th IPU General Assembly and pay an official visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan. Photo: Doan Tan/VNA

On the morning of April 5 (local time), at noon of the same day in Hanoi , right after successfully concluding his visit to the Republic of Armenia, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his wife, along with the high-ranking delegation of our country, left the capital Yerevan for Tashkent, Uzbekistan to attend the 150th IPU General Assembly and pay an official visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Promoting Vietnam's role and position in regional and international parliamentary cooperation mechanisms

The fact that National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man led the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation to attend the 150th IPU Assembly continues to affirm Vietnam's role as a proactive, active and responsible member of the IPU as well as multilateral forums. Through that, it contributes to strengthening multilateralism, international cooperation and solidarity, promoting Vietnam's role and position in regional and international parliamentary cooperation mechanisms; at the same time, continuing to maintain and promote relations with IPU member countries and parliaments.

Since being admitted as a member of the IPU (April 1979), the Vietnamese National Assembly has always shown itself to be an active and responsible member of this forum. Participating in IPU activities is a top priority in multilateral parliamentary diplomacy activities, aiming to promote and protect Vietnam's interests. At the same time, consulting the views of other countries on international issues, expressing national views on common global concerns, conducting bilateral activities on the sidelines with partners where Vietnam rarely has the opportunity to carry out official bilateral activities, contributing to enhancing the position of the National Assembly in particular and Vietnam in general in the international arena. This is also a place for delegates and officials to access a variety of contents, operational experiences and good practices of parliaments around the world, contributing to the completion and improvement of the quality of the National Assembly's activities.

The Vietnamese National Assembly has assumed the role of Chair of the Asia-Pacific Geopolitical Group within the framework of the IPU General Assembly (2006, 2016). In November 2021, Vietnam assumed the role of Chair of the ASEAN+3 Group (taking over from Thailand). Representatives of the Vietnamese National Assembly were elected twice by the IPU General Assembly to the IPU Executive Committee for a four-year term (2007-2011 and 2015-2019).

By participating in the IPU Executive Committee and being elected as Vice President of the IPU in 2009 and 2019, Vietnam has had the opportunity to contribute more directly and practically to the activities of the IPU, promoting the IPU agenda for peace, cooperation and sustainable development. And during that participation in the IPU, Vietnam has successfully hosted many important events of the IPU.

Historical Marks

One of the most notable milestones, according to Vice Chairman of the National Defense, Security and Foreign Affairs Committee Don Tuan Phong, was that Vietnam successfully hosted the 132nd IPU General Assembly in 2015 in Hanoi with the theme “Sustainable Development Goals, Turning Words into Actions” , attracting the participation of more than 160 parliamentary delegations from various countries. At this General Assembly, Vietnam and other countries adopted the Hanoi Declaration to promote parliamentary action in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is a great legacy; demonstrating Vietnam’s outstanding contribution in addressing common challenges with the international community.

This statement was conveyed to the United Nations Summit held in September 2015 and this is also a very important contribution for the United Nations to build and promulgate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Following the success of the 132nd IPU Assembly, in September 2023, also in Hanoi, Vietnam hosted the 9th Global Meeting of Young Parliamentarians with the theme "The role of youth in promoting the implementation of sustainable development goals through digital transformation and innovation" , with the participation of nearly 700 domestic and foreign delegates. "After 8 years since the Hanoi Declaration, Vietnam continues to make history with the first statement issued at a Global Meeting of Young Parliamentarians", affirmed Deputy Chairman of the Committee Don Tuan Phong.

The Vietnamese National Assembly also contributed to promoting parliamentary partnerships and multilateral parliamentary diplomacy by inviting the IPU President and IPU Secretary General to attend and speak at other parliamentary conferences organized by the Vietnamese National Assembly, such as the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum APPF 26 (January 2018 in Hanoi), the 41st AIPA General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (August 2020, in Hanoi in the form of an online conference), and the 9th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians (September 2023).

Every year, the Vietnamese National Assembly sends a delegation to attend IPU General Assemblies, related conferences, and important IPU meeting mechanisms such as the IPU-UN Hearing, Regional Symposiums and Technical Conferences; training activities for the Secretariats of National Assemblies of countries organized by the IPU Secretariat. The National Assembly Chairman attends the World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments held every five years since 2000.

Since its establishment in 1889, the IPU has increasingly affirmed its important role in the context of the world continuing to witness the trend of division and fragmentation, making global challenges more difficult, requiring comprehensive solutions and the joint efforts and consensus of countries, including the close coordination of parliaments around the world.

The IPU General Assembly is therefore the center of parliamentary diplomacy worldwide for peace and cooperation, playing an increasingly important role in promoting inter-parliamentary cooperation mechanisms, accompanying the United Nations in discussing solutions to innovate the organization, strengthen solidarity, and build an agenda contributing to maintaining peace and stability, and promoting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

It is expected that within the framework of attending the 150th IPU General Assembly, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man will deliver an important speech at the General Discussion on the topic “Parliamentary Action for Development and Social Justice”, and have bilateral meetings with the leaders of the IPU Secretariat, leaders of parliaments of other countries and international organizations. Thereby, he will discuss measures to further promote cooperation with the IPU, deepen relations with other countries and partners, thereby continuing to enhance Vietnam's participation and contributions in the IPU as well as in multilateral forums, and seek support from international friends and external resources to realize the country's development goals.

The participation of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man in the 150th IPU General Assembly is a special milestone, demonstrating Vietnam's new momentum and high commitment to this important multilateral parliamentary forum, in the context of the current world situation requiring each country to join hands to discuss, share experiences, and propose initiatives to address common challenges.

Emphasizing the above important significance of the working trip, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang stated: The participation of the head of the Vietnamese National Assembly in the 150th IPU General Assembly this time is a vivid demonstration that Vietnam strongly supports multilateralism, attaches importance to the role of the IPU, and continues to affirm that the Vietnamese National Assembly is a proactive, active and responsible member of the IPU. The working trip is both the first multilateral foreign activity of the National Assembly Chairman in 2025 and aims to continue implementing Vietnam's consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations for peace, friendship, cooperation and development, proactively and actively integrating comprehensively and deeply into the international community, being a friend, a reliable partner and a responsible member of the international community in the spirit of the 13th National Party Congress and Directive No. 25-CT/TW of the Secretariat on promoting and elevating multilateral foreign relations.

Lam Giang

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/minh-chung-song-dong-cho-thay-quoc-hoi-viet-nam-la-thanh-vien-chu-dong-trich-cuc-co-rech-nhiem-cua-ipu-va-cac-dien-dan-da-phuong-post409397.html