In a meeting held at the end of the official welcome ceremony, Cuong expressed his gratitude to Belgium for the valuable support provided to Vietnam in the struggle for national independence, and for the warmest sentiments and personal contributions of the King and Queen.

“Vietnam willing attaches great importance to strengthen multifaceted cooperation with Belgium, a country with an increasingly important voice and role in the European Union,” stated the Vietnamese president who also expressed gratitude to Brussels for the Belgian Federal Parliament’s Resolution that supports Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange, highlighting the significance of this document for Vietnam.

Cuong suggested that both sides actively implement the Resolution in the future, helping to raise international awareness of the consequences of the use of this chemical substance in Vietnam.

He also proposed that Belgium promptly ratify the European Union-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (Evipa) in order to promote equal and mutually beneficial investment relations between entities from both countries.

Belgian companies should increase their investments in Vietnam, especially in their stronghold areas, such as high technology, renewable energy, digital transformation, and strategic infrastructure, the head of state said. He also called on Belgium to advocate with the European Commission for the prompt elimination of the “yellow card” applied to Vietnamese fishery exports.

King Philippe, in turn, expressed his hope that Belgian companies could participate in investment and business activities in Vietnam in areas such as wastewater treatment, energy, and the exploitation of rare minerals.

Cuong and Felipe also called for promoting assistance in key areas of education and training, culture, tourism, defense and security, and science and technology, and expanding it to other potential areas such as green technology, artificial intelligence, innovation, entrepreneurship, and high-quality human resource development.

jrr/llp/lam/mpm