Lisbon (VNA) – Portugal always treasures bilateral ties andcooperation with Vietnam at multilateral forum, President of theAssembly of Portugal Augusto Santos Silva told visitng Standing ViceChairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Tran Thanh Man during theirmeeting in Lisbon on November 14.

Vietnam always plays an important role in Portugal’sexternal policy, especially in the field of economy, he said, adding thatVietnam can help Portugal expand its relations with Asian countries.

Portugal, despite its small population, is a gateway to theworld thanks to its location in the meeting point of Europe, Africa and LatinAmerica, said Silva.

He suggested that Vietnam and Portugal strengthenpeople-to-people exchange with a priority of opening of diplomatic representative office ineach other country.

Silva affirmed that Portugal will conduct a general electionin March 2024, but whatever the result is, it will not affect the country’srelations with Vietnam in multilateral forums.

He thanked Vietnamfor supporting the popularisation of Portuguese by establishing theCamões Portuguese language centre at HanoiUniversity in 2016.

For his part, Man affirmed that Vietnam always values therelationship with the European Union (EU) and its members, including Portugal.He expressed his delight that the two countries have maintained regulardelegation exchanges and meetings at multilateral forums.

The Vietnamese NA Vice Chairman hailed Portugal’s plan toopen its diplomatic representative office in Vietnam, pledging to createoptimal conditions for and support this plan, which is expected to help fosterbilateral ties and the exchange of information in many areas in the future.

He said that Vietnam also plans to launch its embassy inPortugal in the time to come, asking for Portugal’s assistance in the work.

Man proposed that the two sides coordinate closely tooptimise opportunities brought about by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)to complete the target of 1 billion USD in two-way trade in the time to come.

He also asked for Portugal’s support in persuading other EUmembers to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) soon.

Man suggested that Portugal hasten theEuropean Commission to remove the “yellow card” warning against Vietnameseseafood export taking into account Vietnam's determination and efforts in fullyand seriously implementing the EC's recommendations on sustainable fisheriesdevelopment.

He proposed that Portugal continue creating favourableconditions for the Vietnamese community to settle down and integrate into thehost society.

The two legislatures should increase delegation exchangesand consider the formation of friendship parliamentarians’ groups with eachother to promote their partnership, while strengthening coordination and mutualsupport at regional and global inter-parliamentary forums, Man suggested.

Earlier the same day, NA Standing Vice Chairman Man had ameeting with former President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) DuartePacheco.

Congratulating Pacheco on his successful performance of theIPU leader role, Man spoke highly of the important contributions that Pachecohas made to the IPU over the years. He expressed his belief that as a member ofthe Portuguese Parliament, Pacheco will continue to contribute to promotingexternal relations of the union.

For his part, Pacheco recalled his good memories during his trips to Vietnamand showed his impression at the success of the 9th Global Conference for YoungParliamentarians in Hanoi in September.

He underlined the high cooperation potential between the twocountries, suggesting that they should send more business delegations to eachother country to explore partnership opportunities.

He pledged that he always supports and will discuss with thenew IPU President if Vietnam wishes to host the World Conference of Speakers ofParliament.

Also on November 14, NA Standing Vice Chairman Man had ameeting with Filipe Leite de Sousa, a representative from the VovinamFederation in Portugal (WFVV), during which Man lauded thefederation’s activities to popularise the Vietnamese traditional martial arts. FilipeLeite de Sousa vowed to continue to work hard for stronger friendship andcooperation between Portugal and Vietnam./.