On the morning of October 3 (local time), in the capital Dublin, within the framework of his state visit to Ireland, General Secretary and President To Lam met with President of the Irish Senate Jerry Buttimer and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Catherine Connolly.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Senate President Jerry Buttimer warmly welcomed General Secretary and President To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation on a state visit to Ireland, affirming that the visit is an important event in Vietnam-Ireland relations; and welcomed Vietnam's decision to open an embassy in Ireland.
General Secretary and President To Lam expressed his pleasure at paying a state visit to Ireland at a time when the two countries’ relations are developing positively; informed about the important results achieved during his talks with Irish President Michael Higgins and Prime Minister Simon Harris; and stressed that Vietnam highly values the friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Ireland and wishes to promote bilateral parliamentary cooperation.
The General Secretary and President welcomed and highly appreciated the establishment of the Vietnam-Ireland Parliamentary Friendship Group by the National Assembly of Vietnam and the establishment of the Ireland-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group by the Irish Parliament, emphasizing that these Parliamentary Friendship Groups will be an important bridge contributing to strengthening relations between the two National Assemblies in particular and the two countries in general.
The two sides agreed to continue to deepen bilateral relations through increasing delegation exchanges at all levels, including between the two countries' parliamentary committees/groups; organizing activities to exchange and share legislative experiences, policy dialogues, and theoretical seminars.
The two leaders agreed to closely coordinate and support each other at regional and international inter-parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP); promote the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), gender equality, response to climate change and global challenges; expand people-to-people exchanges, cooperation in education and training, agriculture, tourism, and sustainable development.
General Secretary and President To Lam proposed that the Irish National Assembly soon ratify the Vietnam - EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to create more favorable conditions for bilateral investment and urge the European Committee (EC) to soon remove the IUU yellow card for Vietnamese seafood.
The Irish Parliamentary leaders highly appreciated the contributions of the Vietnamese community to the socio-economic development of Ireland and affirmed that they will support the Vietnamese community to continue to successfully integrate, contributing to enhancing understanding between the people of the two countries.
The leaders expressed their delight at Vietnam's preparations to open an Embassy in Dublin, contributing to promoting cooperation between the two countries in general and the two countries' National Assemblies in particular.
Discussing regional and international issues, the two sides agreed on the need to strengthen coordination in responding to climate change, especially for coastal countries like Vietnam and Ireland.
Regarding the East Sea, the two sides expressed their support for ASEAN's stance on ensuring peace, stability, safety, security and freedom of navigation, and resolving disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
