Vietnam's lawmaking National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue arrived in Villamor airbase, Manila on Wednesday, commencing his three-day official visit to the Philippines, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

The visit will run from Wednesday to Friday at the invitation of Senate President of the Philippines Juan Miguel Zubiri.

This is the first official visit to the Philippines by an NA chairperson of Vietnam in 16 years and also the first by a foreign parliamentary leader to the Philippines after the country successfully held the general elections in May and elected new leaders of its House of Representatives and Senate in July.

It also marks the resumption of high-level mutual visits between the two countries after a hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chairman Hue is expected to discuss with senior leaders of the Philippines measures to promote bilateral cooperation in many fields and deepen the two nations’ strategic partnership.

One of the highlights of the visit is to review and promote the development of legal policies, which will act as a lever for economic cooperation as well as collaboration in issues of mutual concern.

Hue will also attend a trade and investment forum and a number of other activities.

Vietnam and the Philippines established diplomatic relations more than 45 years ago, and the two countries’ strategic partnership has continued to develop positively across all fields.

The two-way trade turnover reached US$6.8 billion in 2021, the highest in the past years, and more than $6 billion in the first nine months of 2022.

Cooperation in agriculture still has a lot of room for development, especially in the context that Vietnam is the leading exporter of agricultural products in the region, while the Philippines is the second-most populous country in ASEAN.

Ties in other areas such as education, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges are gradually recovering after being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietnam is currently one of the three strategic partners of the Philippines, along with the U.S. and Japan.

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