Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has stated that the Vietnamese Government commits to creating a pro-business environment and fine-tuning legal regulations in support of enterprises during a working luncheon with Minister-President of Flanders and Flemish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Culture, ICT and Facility Management Jan Jambon, VNA reported.

PM Chinh witnessed the signing of a letter of intent on cooperation between Vietnam’s VinFast Group and Belgium’s Facil. Photo: VNA

Speaking at the meeting in Brussels on December 15 (local time), PM Chinh said fine political ties between Vietnam and Belgium over the past five decades provide a firm foundation for cooperation between Flanders region and Vietnam to grow.

He highlighted several realms such as green development, digital transformation, circular economy, intellectual economy and response to emerging issues such as pandemics and climate change as both challenges and opportunities of the era.

The Vietnamese leader pledged to create an open investment environment and complete the legal system for effective investment, in the spirit of harmonising interests and sharing risks between the State, people and businesses.

Jambon, for his part, said the Flanders region is strong in shipbuilding, agriculture, hi-tech and clean energy. Its firms are actively teaming up with Vietnamese partners, particularly in maritime transport and logistics.

He spoke highly of business potentials in Vietnam, especially with the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, one of the most comprehensive and ambitious pacts that the EU signed with an emerging economy.

Expressing his impression on Vietnam’s strong commitments in climate change response, he said Flanders region is ready to boost cooperation with the country in this regard.

Also at the event, PM Chinh witnessed the signing of a letter of intent on cooperation between Vietnam’s VinFast Group and Belgium’s Facil.

The same day, Chinh received President of the Belgian-Vietnamese Alliance (BVA) Andries Gryffroy and thanked him and the BVA for their important contributions to Vietnam and the multifaceted friendship between Vietnam and Belgium in recent years.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) receives President of the Belgian-Vietnamese Alliance (BVA) Andries Gryffroy. Photo: VNA

Chinh said he hopes the BVA will continue to serve as a bridge boosting cooperation between Vietnam and Belgium and the European Union at large, suggesting the alliance call for investment and establishment of supply chains between Vietnam and Europe.

He called on the alliance to map out plans to promote economic, trade, investment and tourism cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, especially between their localities, universities, and research institutes.

The Vietnamese PM suggested Gryffroy, as First Vice President of the Belgian Senate, urge the Belgian Parliament to complete the ratification of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), and support the European Commission (EC)'s removal of the "yellow card" warning for Vietnamese seafood, thus facilitating economic, trade and investment relations between the two sides on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

For his part, Gryffroy thanked the Vietnamese PM for paying attention to the alliance, saying that besides investment and business activities, the alliance is also interested in cultural and social aspects.

The BVA hopes that the Vietnamese Government will support Belgian enterprises to invest in developing cooling warehouses for farm produce in Vietnam, and cooperate with Vietnamese enterprises in logistics and construction, Gryffroy said.

During a working breakfast with Vice-President of Wallonia and Minister of Economy, Foreign Trade, Spatial Planning and Agriculture Willy Borsus and several Belgian corporate executives, PM Chinh called on businesses and groups from Belgium’s Wallonia region to expand their operations in Vietnam in new areas as well as introduce other firms to the country.

He hailed Wallonia as an important region of Belgium with strengths in hi-tech agriculture, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy and the environment which suit Vietnam’s directions in attracting foreign investment, which means there is great room for bilateral cooperation in the future.

PM Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the working breakfast with Vice-President of Wallonia and Minister of Economy, Foreign Trade, Spatial Planning and Agriculture and several Belgian corporate executives. Photo: VNA

PM Chinh said both sides should continue pushing ahead with effective cooperation in vaccines and education-training, and advance their joint work in emerging areas such as the green and circular economy, digital transformation and logistics.

He also asked the Wallonia region to enhance tertiary education cooperation with Vietnam, provide more scholarships for Vietnamese students, and boost collaboration with Vietnamese vocational schools.

Chinh welcomed an idea of Wallonia officials and businesses on building a preservation and transport centre for Vietnamese goods, especially seasonal fruits, and assigned Vietnamese agencies to work closely with Belgian agencies and businesses to realise the idea.

Wallonia companies wish to advance cooperation with Vietnam in healthcare, medicine production and distribution, vaccines, agriculture, food processing, energy and tertiary education, Borsus said.

He added that he is looking forward to welcoming more Vietnamese investors to the region and is ready to help Vietnam set up a goods and farm produce distribution centre, thus enabling Vietnamese products to penetrate the European market.

A representative of the John Cockerill group also pledged to consider PM Chinh’s proposal to build a research and development centre and train the workforce in Vietnam.

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