Hai Phong strengthens cooperation with Belgian businesses and partners

The King and Queen of Belgium during their visit to Hai Phong in April 2025.

The Hai Phong - Antwerp (Kingdom of Belgium) Investment Promotion Conference 2025 with the theme: " Discovering the new generation investment destination in Hai Phong" attended by the Hai Phong City delegation led by Comrade Le Tien Chau, Secretary of the City Party Committee, opened a new step in strengthening the connection between Hai Phong and the partners of this country. With a solid foundation of cooperation and large-scale projects, Belgium is becoming one of Hai Phong's important partners.

Positive impression

By the end of October 2025, Hai Phong had 8 valid FDI projects of Belgian investors with a total capital of more than 758.5 million USD, mainly in the development of industrial park infrastructure and hotel services. The most prominent is the DEEP C Industrial Park Complex - the first cooperation project between Belgian and Hai Phong enterprises. After more than two decades of implementation, DEEP C has become a typical model of Vietnam - Belgium cooperation, making an important contribution to the completion of industrial infrastructure and attracting new investment flows.

Bilateral trade activities between Hai Phong and Belgium continue to maintain a positive growth momentum. In 2024, Hai Phong's export turnover to Belgium will reach more than 25 million USD, and imports will reach more than 10 million USD. In the first 10 months of 2025 alone, exports will reach 69.7 million USD and imports will reach 40.5 million USD. Footwear accounts for 93% of the export value of Hai Phong enterprises to Belgium; in addition, there are plastics, rubber, textiles, precious stones - precious metals, electronic components, and machinery.

On the other hand, imports from Belgium are mainly textile, leather and paper materials, accounting for 24% of total turnover, while machinery and electronic equipment account for 22%. These figures confirm that Belgium is an important market for Hai Phong enterprises, especially in the processing and manufacturing sector.

Along with that, the friendly cooperation between the two sides has been strengthened through many working trips of high-level delegations. Hai Phong welcomed the King and Queen of Belgium in 2025, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Heritage of Flanders in 2023... The visits have opened up new cooperation opportunities, especially in green energy - a field in which Belgium has many strengths. City leaders have made many survey trips to Belgium to learn about the port authority model, logistics development and seaport infrastructure, serving the orientation of building a modern port city.

Notably, recently, the Hai Phong city delegation led by comrade Le Tien Chau, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the City Party Committee, Head of the City's National Assembly Delegation attended the Hai Phong - Antwerp (Belgium) Investment Promotion Conference with the theme "Discovering new generation investment destinations in Hai Phong".

In addition to economics, cooperation in the fields of culture, society, education... between Hai Phong and Belgium continues to expand. A number of Belgian non-governmental organizations are coordinating the implementation of ODA projects on sustainable development.

In the field of education and training, universities in Hai Phong maintain many joint programs with prestigious universities in Belgium, such as cooperation between Vietnam Maritime University and Antwerp University and Liège University; cooperation in training family doctors between Hai Phong University of Medicine and Pharmacy and Liège University. In terms of culture, the Belgian Cultural and Culinary Festival, held for 5 consecutive years in Hai Phong, has become a familiar meeting place, contributing to enhancing exchanges and understanding between the two communities.

DEEP C Industrial Park - the first cooperation project between Belgian and Hai Phong enterprises.

Towards extensive and sustainable cooperation

Entering a new development phase with the goal of becoming an international logistics center, a green port city and a modern industrial city, Hai Phong has identified Belgium as one of the important partners in its strategy to expand international cooperation. The focus of cooperation in the coming time is logistics infrastructure and seaport technology. With leading European port management experience, especially the Antwerp port model in green logistics and supply chain digitalization, Belgium can support Hai Phong in building a port authority model, developing a synchronous port system and improving competitiveness.

Renewable energy and sustainable development are also areas with great potential. Belgian companies are strong in offshore wind power, waste treatment and recycling technology, sustainable materials and carbon emission reduction solutions - factors that are in line with Hai Phong's green development strategy.

Education and training cooperation is considered a pillar in improving the quality of human resources. Based on the established joint programs, the two sides can expand to artificial intelligence, new materials, smart navigation, modern logistics or community medicine. In marine research, cooperation between the Institute of Marine Resources and Environment and Belgian scientific organizations facilitates deep-sea surveys, climate change research, coastal ecosystem restoration and environmental forecasting capacity improvement. Along with that, cultural cooperation continues to play a bridging role, contributing to creating a clearer Belgian mark in Hai Phong and promoting cooperation in many fields.

With a well-established foundation and open potential, the Hai Phong - Belgium cooperation relationship is moving towards a more extensive, substantial and sustainable development phase. The support of Belgian enterprises, organizations and diplomatic agencies will continue to contribute to helping Hai Phong realize its goal of becoming an international logistics center and a green port city in the near future.

Speaking at the Hai Phong - Antwerp investment promotion conference, Party Secretary Le Tien Chau said that Hai Phong and Antwerp (Kingdom of Belgium) have many similarities in terms of seaport position and multimodal transport infrastructure. Therefore, the two sides can further strengthen cooperation in many fields, focusing on three main pillars of cooperation: Improving the level of seaport system management; promoting digital transformation, green transformation and renewable energy; cooperation in education and training, especially developing high-quality human resources through advanced vocational training facilities in Belgium.

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