Politburo member and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man stated: The Francophone Parliamentary Alliance, which brings together French-speaking parliamentarians with the goal of “pushing governments forward”, has been established and developed for more than 50 years. Throughout this process, the Vietnamese National Assembly has always participated and made very positive contributions to the common activities of the APF, including holding a number of important positions in the Executive Committee and regularly hosting APF Conferences.
Active participation in APF activities in particular and the activities of the Francophone Community in general affirms the consistent implementation of an independent and autonomous foreign policy for peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations; being a friend, a reliable partner and an active and responsible member of the international community.
The National Assembly Chairman emphasized that Vietnam always shares and supports the noble values and goals of the Francophone Community, which are peace, democracy, cultural and linguistic diversity, solidarity, cooperation and development. Vietnam highly appreciates the role of the Francophone Parliamentary Union - the advisory body of the International Organization of the Francophone - through initiating and implementing inter-parliamentary cooperation programs, promoting the building of a rule-of-law state and human rights, spreading the use of French, strengthening the friendly relations and solidarity between parliamentary institutions, with positive contributions to the increasingly strong development of parliamentary diplomacy activities, enhancing the position and voice of parliamentarians in regional and international issues.
APF President Hilarion Etong highly appreciated the contributions of the Vietnam Section at APF; he said that the organization of the APF Executive Committee Meeting in Vietnam shows a very strong message that the Francophone Community is not only limited to a narrow scope but also continues to reach further and higher to develop on a global scale.
The conference also sent a strong message that the promotion of the French language is also an effort to protect other languages and cultural diversity to enrich the cultures of the Francophone Community. This commitment, as well as a call for dialogue, strongly contributes to building a peaceful multilateral trend and promoting democracy in accordance with the characteristics of each country.
The APF Executive Board Meeting took place right after the Francophone Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change Response. The Forum adopted the Can Tho Declaration calling for international cooperation to address challenges related to food security and climate change.
Expressing support for Vietnam's initiative to submit this statement to the APF Executive Board Meeting for approval, the APF President said that this initiative will also mark an important milestone in the organization's history.
Informing about some recent activities of APF, the APF President affirmed that the persistent commitment and friendship of the Vietnam Section have brought great values to APF in many areas of cooperation such as: South-South cooperation; in political stability; in sharing good economic practices, technological innovation, climate change adaptation as well as encouraging inclusive and sustainable development.
After the forum ended, the APF President proposed to further strengthen relations between Vietnam and African countries, promote economic, trade and technological cooperation, especially promoting cooperation in agriculture.
APF is an inter-parliamentary organization bringing together 91 parliaments/legislatures of French-speaking countries and territories, established in May 1967.
