President Vo Van Thuong (R) and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, who is on a visit to Vietnam in her capacity as Honorary President of UNICEF Belgium. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – President Vo Van Thuong hosted a reception in Hanoi on May 9 for Queen Mathilde of Belgium, who is on a visit to Vietnam in her capacity as Honorary President of UNICEF Belgium.
President Thuong welcomed the Queen’s visit on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and the fifth anniversary of strategic partnership in agriculture between Vietnam and Belgium.
He conveyed his invitation of King Philippe and the Queen to visit Vietnam soon to discuss measures to deepen bilateral cooperation in various areas.
Queen Mathilde shared her excitement about her upcoming trip to northern Lao Cai province to witness the outstanding results of childcare facilities there and Vietnam’s achievements in sustainable development. She also hopes to learn about difficulties that Vietnam is facing in child health care and protection, especially issues related to education, nutrition, and mental health.
The Vietnamese President said for many years, the Vietnamese Party, State, and people have always paid attention to child care, education and protection, with the view of dedicating the best things to children. Along with that, Vietnam has been fine-tuning its legal system and launching policies related to children such as poverty reduction, new rural development, education, health care and social care. Child care work has been carried out synchronously from the central to local levels.
He took the occasion to thank Belgium, UNICEF Belgium and Queen Mathilde for their continuous support and cooperation with Vietnam in child protection and care, donating significant resources to help Vietnam improve the effectiveness of the effort.
According to him, Vietnam still faces challenges, such as the growing development gap among regions, and differences in health and nutrition among areas, especially in remote and disadvantaged regions.
The host believed that while visiting projects funded by UNICEF Belgium in Vietnamese localities, Mathilde will have the opportunity to better understand Vietnam’s efforts, achievements and difficulties in the field.
Speaking highly of the guest’s suggestions, he wished that UNICEF Belgium would continue helping Vietnam fine-tune policies and laws related to children, allocate resources to support Vietnam, especially in education and health care so that Vietnam could better care for and educate children in the future./.
