At the invitation of Politburo member and President Luong Cuong, the King and Queen Mother of the Kingdom of Belgium paid a state visit to Vietnam from March 31 to April 4. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang said that the State visit to Vietnam by the King and Queen of Belgium is a special visit, of great significance to the relationship between the two countries. This is the first State visit after more than 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries, especially in the context of Vietnam entering a new era; an important historical milestone, bringing the relationship between the two countries into a new stage of development, with higher political trust, and cooperation being promoted more substantially and effectively.
Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang pointed out 4 highlights about the visit. Firstly, the visit demonstrates the special affection of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde for Vietnam. Previously, both the King and Queen have visited Vietnam many times in different positions and left many impressions. Although this is the first State visit to Vietnam, for the King and Queen, it is truly a "return" to Vietnam, returning to the land where the King and Queen have had many memories and feelings in previous visits.
Secondly, welcoming the King and Queen of Belgium to visit Vietnam is a vivid testament to Vietnam's consistent implementation of its foreign policy on independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, and diversification of foreign relations for peace, friendship, cooperation and development, proactive and active integration into a comprehensive, extensive, and friendly international community, a trusted partner and a responsible member of the international community; demonstrating Vietnam's respect for Belgium, Vietnam's important partner in the European Union. On the Belgian side, the fact that the King and Queen visited Vietnam at the State level, in the context that the Belgian King rarely made trips to countries outside the European region during the year, showed Belgium's special respect for Vietnam and its role and position in the Asia-Pacific region.
Thirdly, the visit affirmed the desire and determination of both sides to bring bilateral relations to new heights, further increase political trust, and promote cooperation in many fields, especially economy - trade - investment - an important pillar in the bilateral relationship. The visit also continues to deepen the Vietnam - Belgium Agricultural Strategic Partnership framework established by the two countries in 2018, while expanding cooperation in other priority and potential areas such as education - training, science - technology, culture - arts.
It is expected that accompanying the King and Queen of Belgium in this visit will be 34 CEOs of leading Belgian and EU corporations and enterprises in the fields of logistics services, seaports, energy transition, climate change response, healthcare, food, etc., and 16 leaders of Belgium's leading universities and research institutes. This demonstrates Belgium's desire to strengthen existing cooperation platforms with Vietnam, while seeking and exploiting new cooperation opportunities in potential areas where Belgium has strengths and Vietnam has needs.
Fourth, through the visit, Vietnam continues to request the Belgian side to pay attention to and create favorable conditions for the 13,000 Vietnamese people in Belgium to live, study and do business in their homeland, promote the spirit of solidarity, towards the Fatherland, actively integrate with Belgian society, play the role of a bridge, increase understanding between the people of the two countries, and contribute to the development of Vietnam - Belgium relations.
