Vietnam, France seek to deepen parliamentary cooperation

Hanoi (VNA) – Vice Chairman of the National Assembly (NA), Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Doan Anh, hosted a reception in Hanoi on June 2 for a delegation from the French National Assembly's Committee of National Defence and Armed Forces, led by its President Jean-Michel Jacques.

Welcoming Jacques and the delegation, Anh said the visit holds special significance as it takes place at a time when Vietnam-France relations are flourishing across a wide range of fields, including politics, economy, culture, healthcare, and education.

He highlighted the elevation of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in October 2024 as a major milestone, reflecting a new level of political trust, deeper cooperation, and the long-term commitment shared by the two countries.

The NA Vice Chairman spoke highly of the recent working session between the Vietnamese NA’s Committee for National Defence, Security and External Relations and the French NA's Committee ofNational Defence and Armed Forces. He expressed confidence that the outcomes would help strengthen mutual understanding, trust, and practical cooperation between the Vietnamese legislature and the French Parliament, particularly in defence and security, key pillars of bilateral relations.

Anh affirmed that Vietnam highly values France’s role in Europe, the Indo-Pacific region, and the international arena. France is among Vietnam’s leading partners in the European Union (EU) and was the first EU country to establish a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam.

He noted with satisfaction that bilateral relations have continued to develop positively through Party, State, and parliamentary channels, as well as people-to-people exchanges. Recent high-level visits and contacts have generated fresh momentum for cooperation between the two countries.

The official also welcomed the growing cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the French Parliament, noting that the Vietnamese legislature has signed cooperation agreements with both the French Senate and National Assembly. The two sides have maintained regular delegation exchanges and high-level contacts, strengthened cooperation among specialised committees and friendship parliamentarians’ groups, and coordinated closely at multilateral parliamentary forums.

To implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Anh proposed that both sides continue promoting high-level parliamentary exchanges and enhance cooperation among specialised committees, friendship parliamentarians’ groups, women and young legislators, as well as advisory and support bodies.

For his part, Jacques expressed his hope for expanded collaboration in defence, security, and other areas, adding that the France–Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group would serve as a bridge to foster closer ties and help effectively implement bilateral cooperation commitments between the two countries and their legislatures./.