A delegation of the National Assembly (NA)’s Council for Ethnic Affairs, led by Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese NA’s Council for Ethnic Affairs, Chairman of the Vietnam – Venezuela Parliamentary Friendship Group and Chairman of the Vietnam – Brazil Parliamentary Friendship Group, Nguyen Lam Thanh, paid a working visit to Venezuela from August 3-5 and to Brazil from August 7-10. Member of the 15th National Assembly and Parliamentary Friendship Group, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Halcom Vietnam JSC, Nguyen Quang Huan, joined the delegation.
During the trip, the delegation made a courtesy call to First Vice President of the Venezuelan NA Pedro Infante; met with Second Vice President of the Venezuelan NA America Perez; held talks with head of the Standing Commission on Indigenous Peoples Aloha Nuneza and President of the Venezuela – Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group Saul Ortega; and had a working session with Deputy Minister of Indigenous Peoples Marianne Romero.
At the events, Nguyen Lam Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese NA’s Council for Ethnic Affairs, said the visit aimed to enhance the friendship and cooperation between the Vietnamese NA’s Council for Ethnic Affairs and the Venezuelan NA’s Standing Commission on Indigenous Peoples, as well as between the two parliamentary friendship groups, thereby helping further intensify the two countries’ traditional friendship and comprehensive partnership.
Thanh added that the Communist Party of Vietnam always attaches importance to external relations via the party channel, which will create solid political stepping stones for state-to-state ties and define orientations for Vietnam’s relations with other countries to develop stably and sustainably.
Ethnic affairs and solidarity always play a strategic role in the Vietnamese revolution so as to promote equality and solidarity among ethnic groups, he noted. Giving an overview of the Vietnamese Party and State’s policies on ethnic minority and mountainous areas, he affirmed that the Government of Vietnam has always paid attention to and carried out a number of policies to help develop and improve the material and spiritual lives of all ethnic minority groups.
For their part, the senior leaders of the Venezuelan NA welcomed and highly appreciated the working visit of the delegation of the Vietnamese NA’s Council for Ethnic Affairs; believed that the visit and cooperation activities between the Parliamentary Friendship Groups of the two NA in the coming time will contribute to consolidating and deepening the relationship between the two countries’ NA and the Venezuela – Vietnam comprehensive partnership.
First Vice President of the Venezuelan NA Pedro Infante and leaders of the Venezuelan NA expressed their respect to President Ho Chi Minh and admiration for Vietnam national liberation and Doi Moi initiated and led by the Communist Party of Vietnam; stressing that the Venezuelan NA treasures and wishes to further intensify relations with the Vietnamese NA through increasing mutual visits at all levels, especially between their NA leaders, enhancing cooperation between parliamentary agencies, and boosting joint activities in all aspects. The two sides agreed to build coordination mechanisms between the two NAs, their specialized committees, and the two parliamentary friendship groups.
First Vice President of the Venezuelan NA, Pedro Infante, thanked Vietnamese NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue for inviting the Venezuelan NA to attend the 9th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, scheduled to take place in Ha Noi from September 14 to 17. He affirmed that his country’s legislature would send a high-level delegation to the event.
* While in Brasilia, the federal capital of Brazil, the delegation had working sessions with President of the Brazil – Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group Marcio Honaiser; President of the Commission on Human Rights, Minorities and Racial Equality of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies Luizianne Lins; and Secretary for International Relations of the Federal District Government Paco Brito. They also met with some officials of Sao Paulo during their stay there.
At these meetings, Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese NA’s Council for Ethnic Affairs, Nguyen Lam Thanh, stressed that his visit aimed to promote cooperation between the Vietnamese NA’s Council for Ethnic Affairs and the Brazilian Commission on Human Rights, Minorities and Racial Equality in the matters regarding rights and interests of vulnerable ethnic minority communities.
He used this occasion to convey invitations to Brazilian parliamentarians to attend the 9th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians co-organized by IPU and Vietnamese VA in September 2023.
The legislator suggested the two sides enhance all-level delegation exchanges, and maintain political consultation mechanism between the two foreign ministries and the inter-governmental committee to review cooperation progress and consider expanding the collaboration in the areas of shared concern.
The Brazilian side affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner of Brazil, and noted belief that the visit as well as cooperation activities between the two friendship parliamentarians’ groups will contribute to deepening the relations between the two countries and their legislatures and materialising reached agreements. Both sides rejoiced at the two-way trade, which hit a record of 6.78 billion USD last year, and 3.3 billion USD in the first half of this year.
The two Parliamentary Friendship Groups committed to play a pivotal role in promoting cooperation between the NA of the two countries; thereby contributing to promoting the two countries’ relations in the fields of politics, economy, culture, especially mutual support in regional and international forums.
The Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Brasilia expressed his desire to cooperate with Vietnamese cities in many fields, especially in biotechnology, clean energy and cultural exchange activities in the capital city. Brasilia capital. With the participation of NA deputies from Vietnam’s provinces, Vice Chairman Nguyen Lam Thanh also expressed his desire to strengthen cooperation between the provinces of Vietnam and the states of Brazil, especially in areas where the two sides have strengths.
Chairwoman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Luzianne Lins expressed her admiration for a heroic Vietnam in the struggle for national liberation and congratulated Vietnam on its achievements in recent times. She also discussed Brazil’s policies towards ethnic minorities, especially those aimed at supporting poor children and tribes in the Amazon region, as well as the challenges and difficulties faced by the Brazilian government such as environmental, social welfare and security problems due to the increasing number of immigrants to Brazil. Meanwhile, the Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese NA’s Council for Ethnic Affairs shared information on the policies of the Party and State of Vietnam towards ethnic minority and mountainous areas; emphasizing that the government of Vietnam has always paid attention to and implemented many ethnic guidelines and policies, contributing to the stable development and improvement of all aspects of the material and spiritual life of ethnic minorities.
Meanwhile, Sao Paulo authorities affirmed that Brazil in general and São Paulo state in particular always considered Vietnam an important trade partner. In particular, Vietnam is the second largest trading partner of Campinas city, one of the important economic centers of the state. Sao Paolo wished to continue to further strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in the fields of trade, clean energy, fight against climate change…
In addition, the delegation of the Vietnamese NA’s Council for Ethnic Affairs and the Vietnam – Brazil Parliamentary Friendship Group visited a number of residential facilities in Brazil and worked with the Vietnamese Embassy in Brasilia, the Vietnam Trade Office in Sao Paolo, met and encouraged the Vietnamese community in Brazil.
Source: Portal of NA of Vietnam