On the afternoon of April 1, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary To Lam received King of the Kingdom of Belgium Philippe.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the meeting, General Secretary To Lam highly appreciated the historical significance of the first national visit as heads of state between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1973; believed that the King's visit, with the support of many senior officials, leaders of businesses, universities, and research institutes, would create new momentum, deepen the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Belgium, be practical and effective, meet the interests of the people of the two countries, and make responsible contributions to peace, stability and sustainable development in the region and the world.
General Secretary To Lam expressed his appreciation for the valuable support of the Belgian people for Vietnam in the past struggle for national independence, as well as the good feelings and contributions of the King and Queen of Belgium to Vietnam and the relationship between the two countries.
The General Secretary expressed his satisfaction with the positive development of the Vietnam-belgium friendship and cooperation in many aspects in recent times with increasingly strengthened political trust, creating a foundation to promote cooperation in all fields.
The General Secretary emphasized that the two countries need to continue to deepen cooperation in the fields of trade - investment, sustainable agriculture, training of high-quality human resources, culture, tourism, people-to-people exchanges, and further promote substantive cooperation in the fields of science - technology, innovation, especially sharing the model of business development from the Belgian university environment, contributing to helping Vietnam achieve development goals by 2030 and 2045.
The King of Belgium and Belgium said that with the similar geographical location in central Europe and Southeast Asia, the two sides need to promote cooperation to become gateways to each region; agreed with the General Secretary's assessment that the friendship between Vietnam and Belgium over the past 50 years has developed very well and the two countries need to continue to cooperate closely to address global challenges such as climate change and the environment.
The General Secretary highly appreciated the team of Vietnamese experts trained in Belgium in recent years, who have actively contributed to the management of the state and economy of Vietnam; emphasized the need to facilitate the citizens of the two countries to travel and trade with each other; proposed that Belgium soon ratify the Vietnam - EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), contributing to creating a new wave of investment from the EU and Belgium in Vietnam and vice versa.
King Philippe of Belgium expressed his impression of Vietnam's remarkable industrialization and modernization achievements in recent years that he witnessed with his own eyes when he visited Vietnam 4 times, the first time in 1994, and was proud that Belgium had contributed to the socio-economic development of Vietnam.
The King of Belgium agreed with the General Secretary's proposal to increase delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels; promote the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation mechanisms; expand cooperation in potential areas such as education - training, national defense, security, renewable energy, especially wind turbine, green hydrogen, healthcare, environment, including overcoming the consequences of Agent Orange, which are areas where Belgium has strengths.
