NA Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man (R) meets with Portugal’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Francisco André on November 13. (Photo: VNA)Lisbon (VNA) – A delegation of the National Assembly (NA) led by its Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man on November 13 engaged in activities to promote the Vietnam-Portugalrelations, within the framework of the visit to the European country.
At the meeting with Portugal’s Secretary of State forForeign Affairs and Cooperation Francisco André, the Vietnamese NA official saidthat Vietnam attaches importance and gives priority to strengthening thepartnership and comprehensive cooperation with European Union, its memberstates including Portugal – an important member of the EU.
He thanked Portugal for ratifying the EU-Vietnam InvestmentProtection Agreement (EVIPA) in April and called on the country to encourage other EU member states to ratify the agreement soon.
Man also asked Portugal to help push the removal ofthe European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” warning against Vietnam's seafood products relating to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU).
Atthe meeting, the two sides agreed that investment cooperation between the twocountries is still modest compared to its potential. Therefore, it is necessaryto continue to promote cooperation in fields such as culture, education, marineeconomy, maritime, renewable energy, tourism, information technology, and labour.
ThePortuguese official said his country is highly aware ofVietnam's efforts to improve the legal framework against the IUU fishing, and hopes that the EU will consider those effortsto have positive assessments to soon remove the warning against Vietnam.
The Vietnamese NA delegation and leaders of the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) pose for a group photo. (Photo: VNA)At a meeting with President of the Portuguese Agency forInvestment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) Filipe Santos Costa, the Vietnamese official said that by the end of 2022, Portugal had onlythree investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of 110,000 USD.Meanwhile, Vietnam had one project in Portugal with a registered capital of856,000 USD.
He said the two sides share the view to boost cooperation andinvestment and take advantages of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) tohave bilateral trade reached 1 billion USD in the coming time.
Vietnam is willing to serve as a bridge connecting Portugaland the Southeast Asian market, Man said.
At the meeting with parliamentarians of the Portuguese Communist Party, he said that Vietnam always pays attention to consolidatingand developing friendship and cooperative relations with traditional friendslike the Portuguese Communist Party.
On this occasion, Man also reiterated the invitation by PartyGeneral Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to General Secretary of the PortugueseCommunist Party Paulo Raimundo to visit Vietnam in 2024.
The meeting between the Vietnamese NA delegation and Ricardo Valente (centre, right side), Councilor for Finance, Economy, and Employment of Porto city on November 13 (Photo: VNA)Also the same day, the NA delegation met with Ricardo Valentewho is Councilor for Finance, Economy, and Employment of Porto city and leadersof EDP Renewables - a global leader in the renewable energy sector and theworld's fourth-largest wind energy producer.
Currently, the group has three solar power farm projects and 10 clusters ofrooftop solar power projects in Vietnam. Thegroup leaders appreciated Vietnam's policies in supporting its projects.
They said they hope Vietnam will continue to have preferential policies so that the groupcan operate new technologies in the country such as floating solar and hydrogentechnology./.
