Brussels (VNA) – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam and his spouse Ngo Phuong Ly visited the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels on the morning of October 24 (local time), and presented books on Vietnamese history and culture as part of his official visit to Belgium.
After touring the library, the Vietnamese leader and his spouse presented a publication featuring excerpts from the Nguyen Dynasty woodblocks, recognised by UNESCO as a World Documentary Heritage, along with books introducing Vietnam’s history, culture, land and people. The woodblocks are not only works of traditional wood engraving but also reflect the country’s historical journey and the knowledge and spirit of the Vietnamese people.
He praised the library’s efforts to preserve and promote heritage while adopting new approaches to conservation, research and digitisation and expanding public access to knowledge. These efforts help safeguard Belgium’s cultural identity and enable present and future generations to explore and carry forward values built up over centuries, he noted.
The Vietnamese leader highlighted the steady expansion of Vietnam-Belgium friendship and cooperation over more than 50 years, spanning politics and diplomacy, trade and investment, science and technology, healthcare, and education and training. Culture has remained a traditional area of cooperation and an important bridge connecting the two peoples, he said.
He welcomed cultural exchange and promotion activities organised in Vietnam by the Belgian Embassy and representatives of Belgium’s regions and communities, covering cinema, photography, performing arts, literature and publishing. These activities have given Vietnamese audiences more opportunities to discover Belgium’s diverse, creative and distinctive culture.
The leader expressed his hope that the publication's presence in the Royal Library of Belgium would serve as a cultural bridge, inspiring readers and researchers to learn more about Vietnam’s rich traditions and distinctive identity.
He called for closer cooperation between the Royal Library of Belgium and relevant Vietnamese agencies through book and document exchanges, the sharing of experience in preservation and digitisation, and programmes introducing each country’s literature, history and culture. Such initiatives would help people, particularly younger generations, gain a deeper understanding of each other and strengthen the social foundations of bilateral friendship, he said.
Sara Lammens, director of the library, thanked the Vietnamese guests for their visit and the special gift. She described the donation as a valuable testament to Vietnam’s long-standing cultural heritage and a meaningful bridge of knowledge between the two countries.
The library pledged to carefully preserve the donated heritage materials and promote their value, giving readers, researchers in Belgium and international visitors opportunities to learn more about Vietnam’s history, culture and people.
Founded in 1837, the Royal Library of Belgium, also known as the National Library of Belgium, is the country’s largest library, holding more than six million books alongside extensive collections of manuscripts, maps, historical prints, images and other materials. In recent years, it has expanded digitisation efforts to preserve its collections and make them more widely accessible online./.
