Hanoi (VNA) – Chairman of the Vietnamese National AssemblyVuong Dinh Hue delivered his remarks at the opening of the 5th WorldConference of Speakers of Parliament (WCSP5).

Following the full text of the remarks.

Excellency President of the NationalCouncil of Austria,

Excellency President of theInter-Parliamentary Union,

Distinguished delegates,

On behalf of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republicof Vietnam, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the President ofthe National Council of Austria and the President of the Inter-ParliamentaryUnion (IPU) for your invitations to attend the 5th World Conferenceof Speakers of Parliament (WCSP), held in the beautiful city of Vienna. Allowme to extend my warm greetings from Vietnam to all esteemed delegates.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic gloom and grave concern acrossthe globe, we praise the great efforts and strong will of the AustrianParliament to host our conference. Such endeavours enable our parliamentarians,as representatives of the people, to come together physically. This is ademonstration of multilateral solidarity to join hands together in concertedefforts triumphing over the COVID-19 for peace, economic recovery andsustainable development.

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Given new opportunities, the world today is facing a varietyof major challenges, including protracted conflicts, terrorism, transnationalcrime, serious impacts of climate change, food security, water resourcessecurity and widespread devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, among others. Nosingle country or power can address these matters alone. To resolve thesematters, we must have multilateral cooperation and joint efforts of allnations. The people, for whom we are representing, are urging us to overcomedifferences and put forth faster and stronger actions.

In this spirit, our parliaments need to showcase theleadership and companion roles alongside the governments. It is critical tostrengthen multilateral collaboration and improve connections for increasedsources, efforts, innovation and creativeness for the people and businesses toget over hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to protect lives andhealth of the people, sustain peace, promote recovery and sustainabledevelopment. We commend the important role of the IPU in its call forparliaments around the world to enhance international cooperation and solidarity.   

As the President of the ASEANInter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-41) in 2020 and at the 42nd AIPAGeneral Assembly, the National Assembly of Vietnam has worked in unity withother AIPA Member Parliaments to support the Governments of ASEAN Member Statesin containing the COVID-19 pandemic with many practical measures in theinterest of the people and businesses. The National Assembly of Vietnam hasjust promulgated a special Resolution enabling the Government to proactivelycurb COVID-19

From Vietnam’s practice, I would liketo share a few thoughts as follows:

First, the people must be placedat the center of all national efforts and policies. Peace and sustainable developmentcould only be achievable when the basic conditions for the people, namelysafety, happiness and well-being, are ensured.

Second, itis important to secure equitable vaccine access for all, consolidate resilienceof health system, promote cooperation in vaccine production. It is alsoessential to associate national digital transformation with improving digitalskills for workers, facilitate production activities, circulation of goods andservices, and resume cross-border travel and movement while ensuring healthsafety.

Third, the Charter of theUnited Nations, international law and effective multilateral mechanisms serveas the firm foundation to harmoniously combine multilateralism at the globallevel with the practice at the national and regional levels for the sake ofpeace and sustainable development.

Vietnam, as a non-permanent member ofthe United Nations SecurityCouncil (UNSC) for 2020-2021, has exerted its utmost efforts to promote thecohesiveness between ASEAN and the UNSC in addressing regional issues of peace,security and development.

Thank you./.