Luxembourg capital city (Photo: LSDD)
Hanoi (VNA) - The Government of Luxembourg has supported Vietnam's National Expanded Programme on Immunisation through providing the Southeast Asian country with cold-chain equipment and other specialised equipment for vaccine and blood preservation, especially in mountainous, remote and border areas and islands, said Honorary Consul of Luxembourg in Vietnam Tran Hong Quang.
Practical and timely support
According to the Honorary Consul, amid complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Luxembourg firms such as B Medical Systems and Cargolux have joined hands with Vietnam to ensure safe and timely transportation and storage of vaccines.
As many as 174 vaccine refrigerators manufactured by B Medical Systems arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at the right time to accelerate the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in Vietnam.
These vaccine refrigerators, which used green technology with low electricity consumption, will be provided for district-level health facilities in the Central Highlands and southern provinces to store vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, Quang noted.
Vietnam and Luxembourg have established diplomatic relations in 1973. Twenty years later, the two countries started their development cooperation. In 1995, Vietnam officially became a partner country of Luxembourg.
Honorary Consul of Luxembourg in Vietnam Tran Hong Quang (Photo: Phong Leica Vietnam) According to the Honorary Consul, the two countries have witnessed practical and effective cooperation over the past two decades. The non-refundable ODA from the Government of Luxembourg has been poured into Vietnam's key areas over the last 20 years.
Vietnam and Luxembourg started their development cooperation in the 1990s with the first General Cooperation Agreement inked in 1995. Since then, Luxembourg has provided Vietnam with about 129 million EUR in non-refundable ODA, greatly dedicating to the country’s socio-economic development.
The above-mentioned support project to expand Vietnam's vaccination programme is just one of the programmes promoted by the Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation (LuxDev) as a policy-making agency for development cooperation of the Government of Luxembourg.
LuxDev has been also supporting Vietnam in many fields such as finance and banking, healthcare, sustainable development, and professional training.
Luxembourg helps Vietnam develop green economy
Quang said Luxembourg has so far funded 80 development projects in Vietnam with a total budget of 129 million EUR (over 125.5 million USD).
Luxembourg has mainly invested in the financial sector in the Southeast Asian country, specifically Project VIE/032 signed with the Ministry of Finance and the State Securities Commission of Vietnam, which will last until the end of this year, with the aim of supporting Vietnam’s securities market consolidation and improving training capacity.
The project helps improve the management, supervision and enforcement capacity of State agencies; build an early warning system (EWS) model with technical support of experts from the Central Bank of Luxembourg, develop a code of conduct for members of the Vietnam Association of Securities Business, strengthen relevant training, research and communication activities, and develop the Securities Scientific Research and Training Centre.
Sunset in Kaundorf, a famous tourist destination in Luxembourg (Photo: LSDD) Luxembourg has also strengthened cooperation with Vietnam in many other fields through specific projects lasting from 3-6 years, including two projects on responding to climate change, and energy use signed with the People's Committee of the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.
Through the projects, LuxDev will support Vietnam in addressing issues related to environmental pollution and climate change, and effectively managing natural resources.
Quang said LuxDev is piloting an organic agricultural product market in Thua Thien-Hue province, while investing in infrastructure development to protect people and their livelihoods in the rainy season.
People-to-people connection and cooperation projects between Vietnam and Luxembourg are also an important foundation in the bilateral relations.
Vietnam and Luxembourg, as members of ASEAN and the EU, should continue to support rules-based international order, free trade and multilateral cooperation, helping to promote growth and sustainable development for the whole region, Quang said./.
