Vietnam further promotes trade ties with Belgium’s Wallonia region

Vietnamese and Belgian officials at the signing ceremony in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA) 

Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Le Hoang Tai and Pascale Delcomminette, CEO of Belgium’s Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency (AWEX), on November 27 signed a letter of intent (LOI) to initiate cooperation in trade promotion between the two sides.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Hanoi, Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam Karl Van Den Bossche expressed his delight at the visit to Vietnam by an economic and trade delegation from the Wallonia region, adding that through this trip, he expected increases in Belgium’s exports to Vietnam and vice versa so as to balance the two-way trade.

Tai said that Belgium is running 88 projects worth 1.1 billion USD in Vietnam, and the country is also Vietnam’s sixth biggest trading partner with total trade revenue of 4.73 billion USD last year. Meanwhile, Vietnam is Belgium’s second largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)

According to the official, the signing of the LOI was considered as the first brick in building a firm foundation for the bilateral collaboration, thus helping to strengthen connectivity and open up new cooperation opportunities.

For her part, Delcomminette said that the delegation comprising representatives of 20 companies and organisations from the Wallonia region is paying a working trip to Hanoi from November 27-28, and will visit Ho Chi Minh City from November 29-30.

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has opened up more chances for cooperation, thus showing great potential from the Wallonia region and the opportunities that Vietnam brings to businesses of the two countries, she added./.

VNA