NA Chairman wants closer cooperation with Belgian Parliament

NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung made the commitment at a meeting on December 6 with President of the Flanders Parliament, Jan Peumans.   

He said his visit aims to facilitate the development of the relationship between the two countries and legislative bodies. He noted that over the past 40 years since diplomatic ties were established between the two sides, Vietnam has received valuable support from Belgium for its national construction and development.

President Peumans briefed Mr Hung on the organizational structure and operations of the Flanders Parliament and said his organization will cooperate with the Vietnam NA to promote cooperative relations between Vietnam and Belgium.

NA Chairman Hung also visited the Vietnamese embassy in Belgium on the same day. He informed the overseas Vietnamese community in Belgium about the results of his working sessions with Belgian and European Parliament (EP) leaders, the socio-economic situation in Vietnam and its external relations, as well as the Vietnam-Belgium relationship in recent times.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State always pay special attention to the Vietnamese community abroad, particularly in Belgium, and aim to help them stablise their lives, integrate into their current country of residence, and promote their traditional identity.

He said the NA has approved a resolution allowing Vietnamese nationals abroad to buy houses in the homeland and amended the Nationality Law in favour of overseas Vietnamese. The Prime Minister has also decided on visa exemptions for Vietnamese nationals holding foreign passports and their relatives.

Chairman Hung highlighted the role of the overseas Vietnamese community in Belgium and said he hopes that they will continue contributing to Vietnam’s national construction and defense and serve as an important bridge to strengthen and consolidate friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Belgium. He called on the overseas Vietnamese community in Belgium to abide by their residence country’s laws, strengthen solidarity to build the homeland, and increase vigilance against hostile forces.

Earlier, Chairman Hung witnessed the signing of a cooperative agreement on training between Hanoi National University and Vrije University in Brussels. Under the agreement, the two universities will co-ordinate on a project to study changes in land use during the current socio-economic development and the impact of global climate change in the Red River Delta and northwestern Vietnam. Through the project, both sides will develop a long-term cooperative programme on training human resources to cope with climate change.

Chairman Hung is scheduled to hold talks with Speaker of the Belgian House of Representatives, André Flahaut, and attend the debut of the Vietnamese friends group in the EP as well as the Vietnam-Belgium Business Forum in the evening.