Hanoi (VNA) – Party General Secretary To Lam on April 1 received Belgian King Philippe, who is on a five-day state visit to Vietnam.
Welcoming King Philippe, Queen Mathilde, and the Belgian high-level delegation to Vietnam, the Party chief highlighted the historic significance of the visit, the first at the head-of-state level between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1973.
He expressed his belief that this visit, accompanied by senior officials, business leaders, representatives of universities and research institutes, would create new momentum to deepen and enhance the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Belgium in a practical and effective way, meeting the benefits of their people and contributing responsibly to peace, stability, and sustainable development in the region and the world.
He praised the significant contributions of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde to Belgium's socio-political life, including maintaining the unity in diversity. He also expressed gratitude for the strong support of the Belgian people for Vietnam during its struggle for national independence and for the personal contributions of the Belgian royal couple to Vietnam and bilateral relations.
The Party General Secretary said he is pleased with the positive development of the Vietnam-Belgium relationship, noting that increasing political trust between the two countries has laid a foundation for cooperation across all sectors.
To better match their potential and good political relations, Lam stressed that the two countries need to continue deepening cooperation in trade-investment, sustainable agriculture, high-quality human resource training, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. He also called for stronger collaboration in science-technology and innovation, and particularly Belgium’s sharing of business development models to help Vietnam achieve its development goals for 2030 and 2045.
Noting the similarities in geographic location, with Belgium at the center of Europe and Vietnam at the heart of Southeast Asia, King Philippe highlighted that the two countries should strengthen cooperation to serve as gateways for each other in their respective regions. He agreed with his host that the Vietnam-Belgium relationship has been thriving over the past 50 years, and the two countries should continue close collaboration to address global challenges such as climate change and environmental issues.
Lam spoke highly of the contributions of Vietnamese experts trained in Belgium over the years, saying they have played a vital role in Vietnam’s state management and economic development. He emphasised the need to facilitate tourism and trade exchanges between the two nations and urged Belgium to promptly ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to help boost investment flows from the EU and Belgium to Vietnam and vice versa.
The Party leader briefed the Belgian King on Vietnam's “Doi Moi” (Renewal) efforts and achievements, as well as the country's socio-economic development in the past nearly 40 years, highlighting the support from international friends. He noted that Vietnam has now joined the group of the world’s 35 largest economies and the top 20 globally in trade volume.
King Philippe expressed his impression at Vietnam's remarkable achievements in industrialisation and modernisation, which he has witnessed firsthand during his four visits to Vietnam, the first of which was in 1994. He proudly noted that Belgium has contributed to Vietnam's socio-economic development.
The King agreed with General Secretary Lam’s proposal to increase high-level exchanges and engagements, enhance the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and expand collaboration in potential areas such as education-training, defence, security, renewable energy, particularly wind turbine technology, green hydrogen, health care, and the environment. He laid special stress on the mitigation of Agent Orange/dioxin consequences, an area where Belgium has strong expertise.
Lam emphasised that Vietnam is recognised as a responsible member of the international community, particularly in maintaining peace, stability, and cooperation in the region, including the East Sea.
The two sides reached consensus that Vietnam and Belgium should work closely at international and regional forums to promote multilateralism, the rule of law, and international responsibility in addressing regional and global challenges./.
