HCM City's leader receives Belgian Senate President
Politburo member, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen hosted a reception on August 25 for visiting President of the Belgian Senate Stéphanie D'Hose, at which he highlighted the potential of cooperation between the city and Belgium.
Nen highlighted the growing partnership between Vietnam and Belgium in all fields from politics, diplomacy to economy, culture and people-to-people exchanges, stressing that the two sides shared common interest in areas of education, culture, settling consequences of Agent Orange/dioxin, women protection as well as environmental protection and climate change response.
He said that HCM City is an economic, culture, education-training, science and technology hub of Vietnam and the country’s centre for international integration. The city has always implemented promptly programmes and plans of leaders of the two nations in all areas, Nen said, adding that HCM City has many effective cooperation projects with Belgium.
However, the official held that the current trade and investment partnership between the city and Belgium has remained modest compared to the potential and aspirations of the two sides. He believed that the Belgian Senate President’s visit will help deepen the cooperation between the two sides, especially between the city and Belgian localities.
Nen suggested D'Hose pay attention to assisting Belgium businesses in investing in the city, thus helping the city to perform its role as an economic driving force of the country.
The official highly evaluated and thanked the House of Representatives of Belgium for issuing a resolution on support to Agent Orange/dioxin (AO) victims in Vietnam.
For her part, D'Hose expressed her great impressions of Vietnam and its people. She said that her visit aimed to reinforce and further strengthen the Vietnam-Belgium relations.
The Belgian leader briefed the host on the outcomes of her visit, including the signing of a letter of intent between the Belgian parliament and the Vietnamese National Assembly. She affirmed that the visit has given her a deeper insight into Vietnam and its people, which prompts her to make greater efforts to bolster cooperation between the two countries, especially in trade, investment and connecting businesses of the two sides.
Pointing out similarities in history between Vietnam and Belgium, D’Hose said that the Belgium Parliament is planning to approve the resolution on support to AO victims in Vietnam and will continue to assist the victims as well as the settlement of AO consequences. It will call on the World Health Organisation and other international organisations to increase research on the consequences of AO, and urge the US to continue assisting Vietnam in dealing with the aftermaths of AO, she added.
