National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (L) meets with President of the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium Éliane Tillieux in Brussels on September 9, 2021. (Photo: VNA) Brussels(VNA) – Over the past 50 years, Vietnam and Belgium have enjoyed fruitfulpartnership across all fields from politics, diplomacy to economy, culture andpeople-to-people exchange, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium and LuxembourgNguyen Van Thao.
Theambassador noted that although Belgium is a small country with a population of only morethan 10 million, the European country is a partner with great cooperation potentialfor Vietnam. As the centre of Europe, Belgium has acted as a gateway for Vietnamto the European Union (EU).
According to him, Vietnam and Belgiumare both members of the International Organisation of the Francophonie (IOF),and share many similarities in culture, which are favourable conditions for them to bolster their friendship. He added that the two countries haveregularly exchanged high-ranking delegations.
Agriculture is one ofthe successful cooperation areas between the two countries, said the diplomat,noting that the two sides set up their strategic partnership in agriculturefrom 2018. Belgium is one of the two strongest countries in Europe inagriculture, making it a great partner for Vietnam to build and develop anagricultural economy, he said.
In terms of economy,after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect, two-way tradesurged 60% in 2022 to over 6 billion EUR (6.46 billionUSD) from 3.9 billion EUR in 2021.
Located in the centreof Europe, Belgium is a hub for high technologies, including those for semi-conductorchip production. In the recent visit to the Belgium of the Prime Minister,Vietnam and Belgium signed a cooperation agreement on semi-conductor chipresearch and production in Vietnam, which is expected to become a brightspot in bilateral partnership, he said.
The diplomat also thought thatgreen, digital and circular economy is also a promising area for bilateralcooperation.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Nguyen Van Thao (Photo: VNA) At the same time, culture cooperation has also drawn great attention from bothcountries, helping connect localities of the two countries. Namur city ofBelgium and Hue city of Vietnam have set up twin relations and regularlyconducted exchanges in culture, art and heritage conservation, he said.
In April, the Mayor ofNamur will lead an art delegation to the Hue Festival, while a Vietnam Day willbe held in Belgium to introduce the Vietnamese cultural identity to Belgianfriends, said the ambassador, holding that promoting cultural exchange willhelp people of the two countries deepen their mutual understanding, paving theway for the development of ties in other fields.
The diplomat alsopointed to other promising areas in bilateral cooperation, including educationand training.
In addition, Vietnam and Belgiumhave maintained close coordination and cooperation within multilateralorganisations. Both countries have been elected to the UN Human RightsCouncil in the 2023-2024 tenure, he noted, expressing belief that cooperationbetween the two sides within the council will contribute to the development ofhuman rights in the world as well as the growth of bilateral ties.
Ambassador Thao saidthat this year, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bilateraldiplomatic relations, about 50 activities will be held in Vietnam inmany forms, including a number of high-level visits and those to boostcultural, trade, investment and tourism collaboration. The visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to Belgium last December was a great start of the series of events.
Regarding measures tofurther bolster the Vietnam-Belgium relations, Ambassador Thao said that proper preparations and appropriate investment are needed to optimise cooperation potential withBelgium in all fields, especially agriculture and high technology, ensuring benefitsfor all parties./.
