National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attends AIPA 46, visits Malaysia: Standing side by side with ASEAN member parliaments to create a 'frontline' for a sustainable common future

On the occasion of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his wife attending the 46th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 46) and officially visiting Malaysia (September 16-20), Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Dinh Ngoc Linh shared with TG&VN about the significance of the visit at both multilateral and bilateral levels.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his wife took a photo with Malaysian House of Representatives Speaker Tan Sri Dato' Johari Bin Abdul and his wife, when the leader of the Malaysian House of Representatives visited Vietnam on October 23, 2024. (Source: Quochoi.vn)

Ambassador, could you please tell us about the significance and focus of the 46th AIPA as well as Vietnam's participation in this conference?

At the invitation of President of the Malaysian Senate Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah and Speaker of the Malaysian House of Representatives, Chairman of AIPA 46 Johari Abdul, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his wife led a high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly to pay an official visit to Malaysia and attend the 46th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 46) from September 16 to 20.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Dinh Ngoc Linh. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia)

As Chair of AIPA 46, Malaysia chose the theme “Parliament at the forefront for an inclusive and sustainable ASEAN growth” with the hope that AIPA will continue to promote its role in promoting regional connectivity, enhancing the voice of the people and enhancing people-to-people exchanges.

In addition, AIPA also continues to promote the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, sub-regional cooperation, harmoniously handling the relationship between food security - energy - water resources, environmental protection; calling for increased cooperation to respond to non-traditional security challenges...

The participation of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly in AIPA 46 demonstrates the proactive, active participation and responsible contribution of the Vietnamese National Assembly and the parliaments of member countries, while expanding multifaceted relations with parliaments outside the region.

In addition, over the past time, the Vietnamese National Assembly has continued to demonstrate an active and proactive role and has made many contributions to AIPA activities to further strengthen the friendly cooperation between the Parliaments of ASEAN member countries.

Therefore, I believe that at this conference, Vietnam will continue to play an important role in promoting discussions and shaping the outcomes of AIPA 46.

I believe that in the context of the current volatile world situation, ASEAN as well as AIPA need to continue to maintain and uphold its central role, unify actions, strengthen solidarity, promote the spirit of self-reliance, and together exploit new growth drivers for the common benefit of the entire region.

In the context of ASEAN's recent adoption of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, AIPA has been sending a strong message of support and commitment to closely coordinate with the governments and people of ASEAN countries to successfully implement the set goals.

Vietnam has always been an active, proactive and responsible member of AIPA, ready to accompany AIPA to build a strong and prosperous ASEAN. With that spirit, I firmly believe that the Vietnamese National Assembly will continue to make positive contributions to AIPA activities, focusing on promoting parliamentary cooperation, supporting policies and legal corridors for the sustainable socio-economic development of the region.

In addition, at the 46th AIPA Conference, the Vietnamese National Assembly will also continue to contribute many initiatives to promote inclusive and sustainable development in ASEAN, as well as actively participate in discussions and contribute to the draft Resolutions and Joint Communiqués of the 46th AIPA Conference.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man received AIPA Secretary General Siti Rozaimeriyanty Dato Haji Abdul Rahman on August 25. (Source: quochoi.vn)

Regarding the Vietnam-Malaysia relationship, could you please assess the significance of the working trip to Malaysia by the Vietnamese Senior Leaders on this occasion in realizing the contents of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership?

This is the first official visit to Malaysia by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his wife. The visit takes place in the context of the Vietnam-Malaysia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership being on the path of strong, comprehensive and solid development in all areas, from politics, diplomacy, security-defense to economy, tourism, culture and people-to-people exchange.

The visit of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man aims to affirm Vietnam's consistent foreign policy of valuing the friendly neighborly relationship and comprehensive strategic partnership with Malaysia.

In addition, the visit also demonstrated the trust and closeness between the two countries' senior leaders in recent times; assessed the results of cooperation between the two countries in general and between the two National Assemblies in particular in recent times, and exchanged directions and specific measures to further improve the effectiveness of cooperation between the two countries and the two National Assemblies in the coming time.

During his official visit to Malaysia, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man will have important talks and meetings with the President of the Malaysian Senate, the Speaker of the Malaysian House of Representatives and other senior leaders of Malaysia.

The visit takes place in the context of Malaysia holding the role of AIPA Chair 2025. Therefore, this is not only a good opportunity for the two sides to continue to strengthen strategic trust and expand parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, but also demonstrates the continued active implementation of comprehensive and extensive international integration; affirming the role of the Vietnamese National Assembly at multilateral forums.

Ambassador Dinh Ngoc Linh attended an event of the Malaysia-Vietnam Friendship Association (MVFA) to promote activities to enhance cooperation and friendship between the two countries, March 2025. (Source: Embassy of Vietnam in Malaysia)

What is the Ambassador's assessment of the economic cooperation atmosphere between the two countries since the two countries upgraded their relations (November 2024) as well as the prospect of the trade turnover target of 18 billion USD in the coming time?

The two countries' establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership framework helps create a solid foundation for a new phase of bilateral cooperation, with the main pillars being politics, defense, and security; economic connectivity towards sustainable development; cooperation in new areas such as digital transformation, clean energy, new technology; and coordination of views on international and multilateral issues.

It can be seen that economic cooperation is emphasized as one of the main pillars of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

In ASEAN, Malaysia is currently Vietnam's second largest trading partner and third largest investor in Vietnam. Bilateral trade turnover in 2024 reached 14.2 billion USD, up 20% compared to 2023. In the first 8 months of this year, total trade turnover between the two countries reached 10.66 billion USD, up 10.3% over the same period in 2024.

With the current positive signals, the two countries can completely complete the trade turnover target of 18 billion USD soon. It can be said that the two countries possess strategic and complementary strengths that need to be grasped for cooperation, from which businesses of the two countries will have more favorable conditions to best access each other's markets, especially in new areas of cooperation with much room such as Halal industry, green economy, innovation, science and technology, digital transformation and green energy.

Thank you very much, Ambassador!

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/chu-tich-quoc-hoi-tran-thanh-man-du-aipa-46-tham-malaysia-sat-canh-cung-nghi-vien-thanh-vien-asean-tao-nen-tuyen-dau-vi-tuong-lai-chung-ben-vung-327424.html