NA Vice Chairman begins Spain visit

At a meeting with Secretary General of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) Enrique Santiago, Man highly appreciated the positive development of the Vietnam – Spain relations.

He thanked the Communist Party of Spain, one of the first Communist parties in Western Europe establishing relations with the Communist Party of Vietnam, for strengthening solidarity with and providing support for Vietnam in the past resistance war and struggle for national independence.

Acknowledging cooperation between the two parties is an important channel helping to promote political and diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Spain, he expressed hope the relations between the two parties would be deepened to effectively support the strategic partnership between the two countries.

On this occasion, Man suggested that the Communist Party of Spain promote the international community’s support for the stance of ASEAN and Vietnam about the East Sea issue, that is ensuring security, safety, freedom of navigation and overflight in the region, and peaceful settlement of disputes in line with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

He also suggested that Spain lobby the European Commission to soon remove the ‘yellow card’ for Vietnamese seafood exported to the European Union.

Secretary General Enrique Santiago for his part expressed his admiration for the achievements Vietnam has recorded under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, saying its experience should be replicated around the world.

He briefed his guest on the Communist Party of Spain’s position in Spain’s politics, with many of its members holding important positions in the Cabinet and parliament. He affirmed that the Communist Party of Spain stays ready to assist and foster the relations between Vietnam and Spain as well as between the two parties.

Santiago said his party makes efforts to strengthen relations between Vietnam and multilateral organizations, and at the same time to lobby parliaments of EU member states to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) as soon as possible.

With regard to parliamentary cooperation, he affirmed that the Communist Party of Spain is ready to act as a bridge to promote cooperation between the Spanish Parliament and the National Assembly of Vietnam through visit exchanges.

The same day, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man received the management of Acciona, a global group that develops and manages sustainable infrastructure solutions, and visited a wastewater treatment plant of this group on the outskirts of Madrid.

Acciona has invested in many wastewater treatment projects globally, including the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal cleaning project in Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam. Acciona’s leaders briefed the Vietnamese leader on the progress of the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe project, saying 20% of the project’s workload has been completed.

Man welcomed the group’s investment in Ho Chi Minh City, and hoped the model would be replicated across Vietnam in future, helping the country achieve the goal of protecting the environment and water resources, while contributing to the country’s sustainable development.

Also on the first working day in Spain, NA Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man called at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Embassy in Madrid where he talked to the embassy’s staff and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Spain.