Prime Minister meets with President of the Belgian Senate

Prime Minister meets with President of the Belgian Senate - Photo: VGP

Welcoming President Stéphanie D'Hose to visit Vietnam and recalling her good impressions during her visit to Belgium, including the meeting between the Prime Minister and the President, the Prime Minister said that the visit was of great significance in the context of the two countries celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 5th anniversary of the strategic partnership on agriculture; saying that the Vietnamese Government attaches great importance to strengthening increasingly deep, substantive and effective relations with the Kingdom of Belgium - a founding member and an important voice in the European Union.

Assessing the bilateral relationship in recent times, the Prime Minister said that Belgium has always been among Vietnam's leading trade partners in the EU and Vietnam is Belgium's largest trade partner in ASEAN. In 2022, two-way trade will reach 4.73 billion USD.

The Prime Minister was pleased to see new developments in cooperation between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Belgian Parliament; he believed that close and effective cooperation between the two legislative bodies would make an important contribution to the development of Vietnam-Belgium relations.

To enhance political trust and expand and deepen cooperation between the two countries in the coming time, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that the two sides continue to increase delegation exchanges at all levels, especially high-level ones; closely coordinate at multilateral and international forums, especially on issues of mutual concern such as conflict prevention, peacekeeping, climate change, etc.

The Prime Minister said that the two sides need to make the most of the advantages of the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), striving to bring trade turnover to 7 billion USD in the next 2-3 years; and asked Belgium to continue creating conditions for Vietnamese seafood and traditional agricultural products such as rice, coffee and seasonal agricultural products, garments, footwear, and electronics to enter the Belgian and EU markets.

The Prime Minister also asked the Belgian Senate to push for the Belgian Federal Parliament to soon ratify the Vietnam - EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to create a favorable investment environment for businesses of the two countries; support and urge the European Commission (EC) to soon remove the EC's IUU yellow card warning for Vietnamese seafood products.

Appreciating Belgium's ODA provision to Vietnam, the Prime Minister suggested that the two sides continue to cooperate in key areas, new areas, renewable energy, digital transformation, digital economy, innovation, green economy, circular economy; request Belgium to support Vietnam in developing circular agriculture, smart agriculture and implementing the National Strategy on Green Growth for the 2021-2030 period towards sustainable development, environmentally friendly, adapting to climate change; study the establishment of a tripartite cooperation mechanism between Vietnam, Belgium and African partners to respond to food security issues.

As one of the countries most affected by climate change, Vietnam asked Belgium to increase support in resources, finance, institutional building and human resource training to implement commitments at COP26, and at the same time have specific projects to help Vietnam respond to climate change, especially in the Mekong Delta region in green development and combating saltwater intrusion.

The Prime Minister thanked and requested the Belgian Government and Senate to continue to pay attention and create favorable conditions for Vietnamese citizens to live, work and study stably in Belgium, contributing to promoting the role of a bridge between the two countries; requested the Belgian side to consider increasing the number of postgraduate scholarships for Vietnam, especially in areas where Belgium has strengths such as transport infrastructure, environment, tourism, etc. The Prime Minister also thanked and requested Belgium to continue to pay attention, support and help Vietnamese victims of dioxin.

President of the Belgian Senate Stéphanie D'Hose highly agreed with the Prime Minister's opinion; expressed her appreciation for the warm sentiments and respectful reception of the Vietnamese side in general and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in particular; said that during this visit, she hoped that there would be a higher cooperation mechanism between the Belgian Parliament and the Vietnamese National Assembly, contributing to promoting the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

She expressed her impression of Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements, role and position in the international arena, and Vietnam's integration in recent times, emphasizing that Vietnam is a country with high attractiveness in the world, and many Belgian companies are very interested in the Vietnamese market.

She said the Belgian Federal Parliament is actively taking steps to strive to ratify the EVIPA before Belgium ends its term as President of the Council of the European Union.

The Chairwoman affirmed that the Belgian Senate will strive to promote the Vietnam-Belgium relationship to develop more deeply and widely through many specific actions, programs and projects, including the areas mentioned by the Prime Minister, especially in terms of innovation, trade development, supply chain linkage and support for Vietnamese dioxin victims./.

Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/thu-tuong-chinh-phu-hoi-kien-chu-tich-thuong-vien-bi-362269.html