During a meeting with National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in Hanoi on January 20, Martin Chungong appreciated Vietnam’s effort in hosting the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26).He affirmed the IPU always works hard to promote cooperation with its member parliaments, and support their relations with the United Nations.He said the SDGs self-assessment toolkit for parliaments built by the IPU and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which was announced in Vietnam in May 2017, will work well for Vietnam, adding that he will look for financial assistance for the printing and publishing of the toolkit book in Vietnam. 

NA Chairwoman Ngan said the Vietnamese Government had issued a national action plan for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the NA has includes this in its regular supervision and socio-economic programmes. 

SDGs are not only targets but also opportunities for law makers to show their commitment to improving living standard of the people, she noted. Through examining reports on the implementation of the plan, the NA can better supervise the Government’s implementation of SDGs, she added. The top legislator shared the IPU Secretary General’s opinion that it is necessary to have a coordination mechanism between the Vietnamese NA and the UN’s authorities in applying the toolkit.