The Vietnam National Assembly (NA) and ASEAN member countries highly value the significance of the meeting of parliamentary speakers from the G20 countries. The Vietnam National Assembly (NA) and ASEAN member countries highly value the significance of the meeting of parliamentary speakers from the G20 countries and wish to share experience in dealing with matters of mutual concern, said NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong.

NA Chairman to attend G20 meet and pay official visit to Cuba

Taking place in Ottawa, Canada, this is the first time developed countries and newly-emerging economies (G20) have held a meeting of parliamentary speakers.

NA Chairman Trong, who is also the Chairman of the 31st ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 31), attended the event at the invitation of the Speaker of the Canadian Senate, Noel A.Kinsella.

After the opening ceremony on September 3, Mr Trong delivered a speech at the meeting, with a view to implement a strategy to meet production demands and cooking distribution. His speech received great applause from G20 member nations.

The meeting aims to promote dialogue among nations to deal with issues related to global economic stability, with a focus on meeting the global demand for food production and distribution; creating new models for peace and security; and building financial and economic models to stablise the global economy.

The event has demonstrated that G20 group attaches importance to increasing the role of legislative bodies in multilateral cooperation.

In his opening speech, Senator Kinsella emphasised that the meeting is a good opportunity to strengthen cooperation among the G20 and other countries, as well as to boost bilateral and multilateral parliamentary cooperation. It also creates an excellent chance for national legislative bodies to access new approaches and measures to resolve matters of mutual concern, especially issues related to furthering cooperation and sustainable economic development.

Chairman Trong stressed the need to meet demand for food production and distribution, and expressed his belief that measures and recommendations made at the meeting would practically contribute to boosting G20 cooperation and dealing with the global challenges of ensuring food security.

He stated that, over the past years, food security has become a common concern of the international community. However, the price of food is increasing while the recent global financial crisis has had a negative impact on poverty reduction and food security, and threatened the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

According to Mr Trong, tougher measures should be taken to cope with global challenges to food security. It is essential to make commitments and devise action plans at both national and international levels to ensure food security, and G20 legislative bodies should play a key role, he said.

He noted that, to foster cooperation between parliaments and governments regarding food security, parliamentary bodies should work together with governments to design and implement strategies and national action plans on food security. It is also necessary to combine food security with adapting to climate change.

Chairman Trong also shared Vietnam’s experience in implementing its economic renovation initiated in 1986. “We successfully implemented an agricultural policy that allocated land and tools to farmers and allowed them to take an active role in producing and distributing their products. Agricultural products are traded according to the market mechanisms with no restrictions on price and quantity. This policy has helped Vietnam overcome its food shortage, and Vietnam has become one of the world’s leading rice exporters since 1989,” he said.

Mr Trong noted that promoting the liberalisation of agricultural trade to improve food distribution on a global scale is the biggest concerned of many countries. The G20-summit in Toronto reached an agreement on extending anti-protectionism for three more years. However, the G20 and international community needs more specific actions to cut the tariff and non-tariff barriers for agricultural products and food, and abolish the heavy subsidies developing countries grant to their agriculture sectors. G20 parliamentary agencies need to coordinate with their governments to hasten the process of the Doha Negotiations.

He proposed the meeting should support the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to establish a mechanism to warn of any impending occurring food crisis. It would keep a close watch on data bases and information from 50 countries which are the most likely affected by a food crisis.

Mr Trong said to ensure food security for all countries, especially developing countries with a low income and large population, Vietnam suggests that the international community create favourable conditions for cooperation within the South and between the North and the South. Vietnam successfully cooperated on agricultural projects with several African countries following a 2+1 model. If it receives financial support from developed countries or international organisations, the model can be expanded and contribute to solving the food demands of many countries. It’s necessary to maintain regular dialogues between parliaments and governments of G20 members to increase the effectiveness of important decisions on economic issues, particularly food security, he emphasised.

Finally, he confirmed Vietnam’s National Assembly and ASEAN countries appreciated the significance of the meeting and hoped to maintain the above activities to share experience on issues of mutual concern in the future.

***On September 3, on the sidelines of the meeting, Mr Trong had a bilateral meeting with his Republic of Korea (RoK) counterpart Park Hee Tae.

Mr Trong praised the RoK’s role in the meeting, which was illustrated in an important speech on food security. He said the RoK’s position is increasingly important in the G-20, especially as the group contains two-thirds of the world’s population, 90 percent of the global GDP and 80 percent of international trade.

He also congratulated the RoK on hosting the next meeting in November and expressed his belief that the meeting will continue to promote the development direction of the G20 and cooperation among its members, including Vietnam.

Mr Park Hee Tae expressed his pleasure to meet with his counterpart Mr Trong. He noted the presence of Vietnam in the meeting has great significance, confirming Vietnam’s position in the international arena.

He agreed with the proposals in Mr Trong’s speech and emphasized that Vietnam’s experience in food production and distribution is very valuable. He promised the two countries’ parliaments will strengthen coordination, and contribute practically to promoting cooperation between the two countries.

Source: VOV