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| Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Pham Viet Anh. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in the Netherlands) |
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Netherlands diplomatic relations (April 9, 1973 - April 9, 2023), Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Pham Viet Anh shared with The Gioi & Viet Nam Newspaper the achievements of bilateral relations over the past half century and the potential for future cooperation.
How does the Ambassador evaluate the Vietnam-Netherlands cooperation relationship over the past 50 years?
In 2023, the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Netherlands will have passed 50 years with important milestones and achievements for both sides. We can affirm that this is a model of relations between Vietnam and a European country, good, open, frank and effective.
The Vietnamese press has reported many figures that fully and comprehensively reflect the achievements in the fields of bilateral and multilateral cooperation on the occasions of even-numbered and full-year anniversaries and high-level visits. Therefore, I would like to present some major achievements from a qualitative perspective.
First of all, the relationship between the two countries has made an important transition to a new stage with a new form and content. Previously, Vietnam faced many difficulties due to the war and its consequences, the Netherlands helped Vietnam in many areas, even before establishing official diplomatic relations. The relationship at that time was more about give and take. Recently, when Vietnam has made many advances, the relationship has become about equal cooperation, joint efforts, mutual benefits and mutual wins.
Second, the Vietnam-Netherlands relationship has been constantly upgraded. The two sides soon realized the “cooperation opportunity” from the similarity in circumstances facing the challenges of nature and climate change, and the strategic geopolitical position to gradually upgrade the relationship to a Strategic Partnership in a number of areas, such as climate change adaptation, water management, sustainable agriculture and food security. Recently, in April 2019, during the visit to Vietnam by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership.
Third, the upgrading of relations is always supplemented with substantive content to deepen the relationship, making it more practical and specific, increasingly meeting the requirements of each country and in line with the general trend of the world. From the goal of cooperation for the benefit of both countries, Vietnam and the Netherlands have recognized the common challenges of humanity to share the same direction, cooperate for the future, for the survival of the earth. At the end of 2022, during the official visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the Netherlands, the two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the field of climate change adaptation, sustainable development and energy transition to contribute to the implementation of the millennium goals.
| "In 2023, the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Netherlands will have passed 50 years with important milestones and achievements for both sides. We can affirm that this is a model of relations between Vietnam and a European country, good, open, frank and effective," Ambassador Pham Viet Anh. |
Fourth, it is not enough to evaluate the achievements of cooperation between the two countries over the past 50 years by numbers, although they speak volumes. For Vietnam, I believe that cooperating and working with the Netherlands is a valuable opportunity to learn and study ways of thinking, approaching problems, finding solutions and implementing them effectively.
Over 50 years of cooperation, Vietnam has learned a lot from the Netherlands, such as the mindset of opening up the economy, actively integrating, applying the "three-house" linkage model (similar to Triple Helix in the Netherlands), solutions to adapt to climate change, green energy conversion, circular economy...
Recently, during his visit to the Netherlands, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was very impressed with the Netherlands' very successful external connectivity model, which comes from its unique integrated thinking and comprehensive vision: air connectivity via Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, sea connectivity via Rotterdam port, intellectual connectivity via Brainport Eidhoven, and high-tech agricultural connectivity via Greenport World Horti Center. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his determination to build a Brainport in Vietnam.
The achievements of cooperation in perception are truly valuable. They have an impact over time and become increasingly profound to create changes in thinking and doing, gradually creating solid steps of economic and social development.
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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte hosted a welcoming ceremony for Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on December 12, 2022. (Source: VNA) |
With those achievements, what advantages and potentials do the two countries have to promote deeper cooperation in the future, Ambassador?
The achievements of the two countries during 50 years of cooperation are the foundation for the development of cooperative relations in the future. The closeness and similarity in perception leading to similarities in measures to respond to current global challenges is an adaptation of the similarities in circumstances and thinking of the two countries in the past. That is not to mention the harmony in the spirit of peace, justice and respect for universal human values - which urged the Dutch people to enthusiastically support Vietnam's resistance war against the US to save the country.
If we look further back into the past, this 50-year journey is shorter than the relationship between the two peoples, much shorter than the more than 400 years of trade relations. The Dutch East India Company traveled to Vietnam to purchase goods and raw materials because of the attractiveness of the culture and products of Vietnam as well as the Southeast Asian region. Today, the geographical location as well as the need to complement each other are still great potentials for the relationship between the two countries.
Although the two countries have upgraded their relationship to a Strategic Partnership in some areas or a Comprehensive Partnership, the results of cooperation have not yet met the expectations of both sides. Cooperation projects have only achieved encouraging initial results compared to new requirements from global challenges, from climate change, from sustainable development requirements that force all countries to participate and cooperate.
Vietnam's capacity in implementing the Millennium Development Goals, digital transformation, energy transformation, planning and building seaports, connecting infrastructure, developing logistics systems, high-tech agriculture, cooperation in training high-quality human resources... still has a large space to deepen cooperation and bring higher efficiency.
In the international arena, the two countries still have a tradition of consensus, mutual support and coordination. It can be said that the political relationship between the two countries has built a certain level of trust to share views in multilateral forums. Therefore, bilateral coordination and cooperation in multilateral forums will generally bring good results.
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| The Department of Enterprise Development, Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Vietnam-Netherlands Agribusiness Association signed a MOU on empowering Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises on February 22, 2023. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in the Netherlands) |
According to the Ambassador, what should the two countries do to continue developing bilateral relations in the coming time?
I believe that in any relationship, if we want to strengthen and deepen cooperation, we must first strengthen and enhance trust. Only with trust can we be open, give, wholehearted, sincere, substantial and effective.
The two countries have long had trust, but need to regularly consult, exchange, and consult at all levels, especially high-level as well as local levels, to sympathize and understand each other more, to increase trust and cooperate together.
Second, to increase trust, both sides must increase in-depth cooperation to bring more efficiency to each side.
Economic cooperation between localities, enterprises, organizations and research institutions that produce concrete results and effectively serve the national development of each side will be the basis for increasing mutual trust, creating intertwined, harmonious and win-win benefits. Cooperation effectiveness and trust have a dialectical relationship and promote each other.
Third , to deepen cooperation and increase efficiency, the two countries need to jointly promote existing cooperation channels, but they must be more specific and at a higher level.
Accordingly, it is necessary to specify the objectives, measures, roadmap as well as assign implementation. It is necessary to specify the inspection, monitoring, summary and evaluation stages according to each party's own mechanism as well as the common mechanism.
Currently, the Intergovernmental Committee only monitors cooperation in the “Strategic Partnership on Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management”, while the two Ministries of Agriculture monitor cooperation in the “Strategic Partnership on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security”. However, when upgrading the relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership, the two sides need to have a common mechanism to monitor, supervise and evaluate the effectiveness of all cooperation programs and projects in order to promptly adjust and supplement them to suit the needs of each side and to suit international requirements and trends.
Fourth, due to the highly open economy, Dutch localities and businesses play a major role in directly creating products, so they have a high degree of autonomy, independence and flexibility. Dutch communication culture is direct and specific, so when discussing cooperation, it is necessary to have full information and approaches, helping to visualize the results of cooperation in advance.
Therefore, Vietnamese localities and enterprises need to be more proactive in understanding the practical strengths, orientations and strict requirements of the Dutch market, and prepare their own strengths, potentials, needs and orientations to successfully connect with Dutch partners in each locality, field and industry. Only then will cooperation bring practical results for both countries.
Thank you Ambassador!
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| Ambassador Pham Viet Anh (center), Dutch Ambassador to Vietnam Kees van Baar (right) and Dutch Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Daniel Coenraad Stork met to discuss measures to promote bilateral relations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. (Photo: NVCC) |
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