Tran Tuan Anh, Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission, leads a Party delegation to visit Belgium and the European Union (EU) from August 16-19. (Photo: VNA) Brussels (VNA) – Tran Tuan Anh, Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission, led a Party delegation to visit Belgium and the European Union (EU) from August 16-19.
During their stay, the delegation had separate meetings with First Vice President of the Belgian Senate Andries Gryffroy; Executive Vice President of the European Commission (EC) Margrethe Vestager; Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Enrique Mora; and President of the Workers Party of Belgium Raoul Hedebouw.
They held working sessions with a number of Belgium agencies such as Directorate-General for Innovation (DG Innovation); Directorate-General for Marine and Fisheries Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE); and Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW).
They also organised a roundtable dialogue with the European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS).
At the meetings and working sessions, Anh said that the visit aimed to reinforce the partnership and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and the EU, as well as the Vietnam-Belgium friendship and strategic partnership in agriculture, while specifying cooperation contents reached by senior leaders of Vietnam, Belgium and the EU.
Anh affirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to cooperation with Belgium and the EU, highlighting that the cooperation potential between the two sides.
He underscored Vietnam's development needs and requirements in accordance with the strategic development goals set at the 13th Party Congress.
Leaders of the EU, Belgium and partners underlined that they consider Vietnam a leading partner in the region, while leaders of the EC and Belgium expressed their delight at the growing ties with Vietnam, especially after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement took effect.
Leaders of Belgium and the EU affirmed that they will hasten the parliaments of EU member countries to speed up the ratification of the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), and proposed that the two sides coordinate closely together to effectively implement the EVFTA and diverse cooperation frameworks in many areas.
Leaders of the EU and Belgium said that they will continue to strengthen cooperation in areas such as climate change response, sustainable energy transition, green economy, digital economy, innovation and development, marine economy, maritime security, development of new supply chains, and logistics. EC leaders suggested that Vietnam continue to support the EU to soon complete negotiations and sign the EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, and at the same time strengthen coordination to jointly solve new challenges arising in the region and the world.
The delegation also had a working session with the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium, and the Vietnamese delegation to the EU./.
