Vietnam has proposed initiatives to enhance the role of the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP) and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in coping with climate change. 

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien (first, left) at the plenary session of the 10th ASEP Meeting. 

Addressing the plenary session of the 10th ASEP Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on September 27, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien said the country has proposed establishing a network which connects policy makers, parliamentarians, experts and businesses to fight climate change, and intensifying the supervision of the implementation of international commitments on climate change. 

Hien stressed that Vietnam supports the proposal of the European Parliament (EP) at the recent 39th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) General Assembly in Singapore on holding an annual inter-regional dialogue to expand dialogues between the EP and the AIPA on issues of shared concern, towards founding an EP-AIPA inter-parliamentary forum. 

He said Vietnam – one of the countries hardest hit by climate change - has built an action plan on the implementation of the Paris agreement on climate change. The country has joined the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. 

Hien said although climate change has affected global politics and caused many conflicts, it has also been seen as a factor promoting international cooperation. 

Given the challenges of increasing nationalism and protectionism, non-traditional issues, including climate change, help multilateralism affirm its role in handling major problems of the era, he said.  

The official lauded the contributions of the ASEM and ASEP to addressing environmental issues over the past more than two decades, especially their cooperation efforts in sustainable management of resources, including water resources. 

He called on all sides to step up collaboration in the context that climate change has threatened social life in all aspects and affected the materialisation of sustainable development goals of the UN, as well as the security of each country, region and the globe. 

Within the framework of ASEP 10, NA Vice Chairman Hien had a working session with EP Vice President Dimitrios Papadimoulis.

Hien praised Papadimoulis’s contributions to relations between Vietnam and the EP, and the cooperation between Vietnam and the EU. 

He noted progress made in the Vietnam-EU collaboration in a wide range of areas, from politics and diplomacy to economy, investment, climate change, green energy, health care and urban management and development. 

The official said legislative ties have been an important pillar of cooperation between the Vietnam and the EU, adding that through meetings, dialogues and delegation exchanges, the two sides have won each other’s trust. 

For his part, Papadimoulis expressed his hope that Vietnam and the EU will reinforce their ties. 

Speaking of Vietnam’s shift of its agriculture towards green and organic production, Papadimoulis said this is also the EU’s goal and voiced his hope that the two sides will produce better products and expand the export market. 

They shared the wish that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will soon be reached and ratified officially, and agreed to continue their support for multilateralism and free trade.

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien is attending the ASEP 10 in Brussels from September 27-28 at the invitation of EP President Antonio Tajani.-VNA