NA leader’s Bulgaria visit to promote friendship and co-operation

This statement was made by Don Tuan Phong, vice chairman of the NA’s Committee for Foreign Affairs, in a recent media interview given ahead of the visit, which will comes following an invitation by President of the NA of Bulgaria Rosen Zhelyazkov.

Phong said that in 1950, Bulgaria was one of the first countries in the world to officially establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Indeed, NA Chairman Hue’s official visit is being made 15 years after a visit to the European country by then NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong back in 2008.

During his stay in Bulgaria, the top Vietnamese legislator is set to hold talks and meetings with senior Bulgarian leaders, attend a law policy forum aimed at stepping up bilateral co-operation, and delivering a policy speech at the University of National and World Economy in the capital of Sofia.

The visit is designed to boost collaboration between the two parliaments, particularly as they plan to update their memorandum of understanding with new co-operation contents to suit the international and regional situation, as well as the relationship between the two countries.

One of the very important contents of the visit is to prompt Bulgaria specifically and the EU in general to effectively carry out the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), whilst urging the Bulgarian NA to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), said Phong.

He said that co-operation between the two legislative bodies is developing extensively in both bilateral and multilateral fields. They have maintained co-ordination and mutual support at multilateral parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP).

During the trip, NA Chairman Hue and Bulgarian leaders will discuss a host of measures which seek to boost collaboration across a variety of fields to fulfil the potential and desires of the two nations, Phong concluded.