NA Chairman holds talks with MERCOSUR Parliamentary leaders

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue made the above statement during his talks with President of MERCOSUR Parliament (PARLASUR) Gustavo Penadés and PARLASUR's vice presidents - Celso Russomanno, Tomas Bittar and Cecilia Britto, in Montevideo, Uruguay on April 27.

Vuong reiterated that Viet Nam values the role and importance of MERCOSUR in promoting integration and economic, trade, and investment cooperation, noting that this is an important factor contributing to promoting democracy, peace, stability and cooperation in the region and the world.

MERCOSUR is Viet Nam's 13th largest trading partner with two-way trade increasing by nearly five times, from US$2.45 billion in 2011 to US$12 billion in 2022. 

Trade between MERCOSUR and Viet Nam accounts for nearly a quarter of the total trade flows between MERCOSUR and ASEAN.

However, the top Vietnamese legislator said the aforesaid results are not commensurate with the existing potential, especially in trade and investment, noting that the main reason for this is that the two sides have not signed a free trade agreement (FTA).

Viet Nam has completed an internal review related to FTA negotiations with MERCOSUR, he stated, expressing the hope that the two sides will soon start negotiations towards signing the Viet Nam-MERCOSUR FTA to facilitate bilateral trade and investment activities.

The Vietnamese NA has cooperative relations with the parliaments of 164 countries around the world, including bilateral cooperation relations with all parliaments of MERCOSUR members, Vuong stated, saying that the Vietnamese NA is willing to contribute to connecting PARLASUR and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization.  

The PARLASUR's parliamentary leaders hoped that Viet Nam can serve as a gateway for MERCOSUR to enter ASEAN, and affirmed that they back the early start of negotiations for the Viet Nam-MERCOSUR FTA.

They suggested early establishment of a direct cooperation mechanism between the Vietnamese NA and PARLASUR, thus promoting cooperation agreements between Viet Nam and MERCOSUR.

On the occasion, the two parliaments issued a joint press statement.

MERCOSUR is a trading bloc in the South America region comprising of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. 

It was formed in 1991 with the objective of free movement of goods, services, capital and people and became a customs union in January 1995. It is the third largest integrated market after the European Union (EU), and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)./.