On the morning of January 21, the Conference of the Executive Board of the Francophone Parliamentary Union (APF) and the Francophone Parliamentary Cooperation Forum on sustainable agriculture, food security and climate change response, organized by the Vietnamese National Assembly, officially opened in Can Tho City.
In his opening speech, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man said that after nearly 40 years of renovation, Vietnam has achieved important, comprehensive and historic achievements. Vietnam has achieved miracles in sustainable poverty reduction and new rural development; and is a bright spot in implementing the Millennium Development Goals and the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development by 2030.
The National Assembly Chairman said that Vietnam has just entered 2024 with many impressive achievements: Economic growth reached 7.09%, economic scale reached about 470 billion USD; inflation was controlled below 4%; total import-export turnover recorded a record of about 800 billion USD; foreign investment attracted about 40 billion USD, of which realized FDI capital was about 25 billion USD; major balances of the economy were ensured, and the macro economy was maintained stable.
To date, Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 193 countries and is an active member of nearly 70 regional and international organizations. Vietnam is currently one of the 33 economies with the largest GDP in the world, the top 20 economies in terms of trade, and the top 15 economies in terms of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Vietnam is also in the top 46 countries in terms of innovation index, playing an important role in trade in Southeast Asia and the world.
The National Assembly Chairman stated that the Vietnamese National Assembly wishes to promote Francophone cooperation through this activity. Accordingly, it encourages and supports cooperation activities in science, technology, innovation, creativity, promoting the digital economy, startups, promoting public-private partnerships; promoting the French language, promoting cultural diversity; and emphasizing the determination of Francophone countries in implementing sustainable development, ensuring harmony between efforts for growth, poverty reduction and environmental protection.
"The Vietnamese National Assembly organized the Forum today to promote cooperation among countries in the Francophone community to build sustainable agriculture, ensure food security and livelihoods for each household, and adapt to global climate change," said the National Assembly Chairman.
The National Assembly Chairman also pointed out that, with the functions and roles of the legislative body, parliaments as well as individual parliamentarians play a very important role in promoting and supervising the implementation of these goals.
Today’s forum is an opportunity for delegates to discuss ideas and actions of Francophone member parliaments to promote sustainable agriculture, ensure food security in the context of simultaneously responding to climate change; parliamentarians share lessons and good experiences in building policies and laws to develop sustainable agriculture, ensure food security, promote adaptation actions and mitigate climate change.
