Vietnam places importance on boosting ties with Mercosur Parliament
VOV.VN - The nation attaches great importance on ties with the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) Parliament (PARLASUR), whilst it desires to further strengthen relations with the bloc, as well as with each member country.
National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue made these remarks during talks held with Gustavo Penadés, president of the MERCOSUR Parliament, and Celso Russomanno, Tomas Bittar, and Cecilia Britto, all of whom are vice presidents of PARLASUR, in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo on April 27 (Uruguay time) as part of the former’s official visit to the South American nation.
During the course of talks, Penadés said he was impressed by Vietnam’s dynamic development, emphasising that PARLASUR aspires to augment ties with the Vietnamese NA due to the Southeast Asian nation’s important strategic role in the region and throughout the world.
He expressed hope that after the visit, relations between the country and MERCOSUR, which groups Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, will be strongly promoted in a more effective and practical manner, thereby bringing benefits to the people of Vietnam and MERCOSUR member nations.
In response, the top Vietnamese legislator thanked Penadés for organising a meeting between the Vietnamese delegation and leaders of PARLASUR during his trip to Uruguay.
The country greatly values the role and importance of MERCOSUR in promoting integration and economic, trade, and investment co-operation, he stated, noting that this represents an important factor contributing to promoting democracy, peace, stability, and links in the region and the world.
The Vietnamese side places great importance on and desires to further expand relations with MERCOSUR in general, as well as each member country of the bloc in particular, he went on to say.
The two sides acknowledged their pleasure that the relations between Vietnam and MERCOSUR and its member countries have been strengthened across various fields.
The two sides have maintained meetings and exchanges of all-level delegations. MERCOSUR is the nation’s 13th largest trading partner with two-way trade expanding by nearly five times, growing from US$2.45 billion in 2011 to US$12 billion in 2022. Indeed, trade flows between MERCOSUR and the country account for nearly a quarter of the total trade flows between MERCOSUR and ASEAN.
However, the top Vietnamese legislator said the results are still below the existing potential, especially in terms of trade and investment, noting that the main reason for this is that the two sides have not yet signed a free trade agreement (FTA).
Vietnam has finalised an internal review related to FTA negotiations with MERCOSUR, he stated, expressing the hope that the two sides will move towards signing a Vietnam-MERCOSUR FTA to facilitate greater bilateral trade and investment activities.
This is especially important amid investment flows and global supply chains being disrupted due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as complicated and unpredictable developments occurring around the world, Na Chairman Hue added.
The Vietnamese NA Chairman said the nation has signed a number of co-operation agreements, framework agreements, and memorandums of understanding (MoU) on co-operation in science-technology and other fields with member countries of MERCOSUR, such as Argentina and Brazil, although ties with MERCOSUR as a bloc in these areas remains limited.
The Vietnamese NA has co-operative relations with the parliaments of 164 countries around the world, including bilateral relations with all parliaments of MERCOSUR members, NA Chairman Hue noted, saying that the Vietnamese NA is willing to contribute to connecting PARLASUR and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organisation.
PARLASUR leaders showed their great interest in the possibility that Vietnam can serve as a gateway for MERCOSUR to enter ASEAN, affirming that they back the early start of negotiations for the Vietnam - MERCOSUR FTA.
They therefore suggested the swift establishment of a direct co-operation mechanism between the Vietnamese NA and PARLASUR, thereby accelerating agreements between Vietnam and MERCOSUR.
On the occasion, NA Chairman Hue cordially invited Penadés to visit Vietnam, with his invitation being graciously accepted.