During his stay from December 4-10, Mr Hung held talks and met with top leaders of Belgium, the UK and the European Parliament, who all agreed on measures to strengthen legislative, as well as economic, trade and investment ties with Vietnam. Both sides signed a number of cooperation agreements on various areas.

Host leaders shared the view that Mr Hung’s visits made a practical contribution to lifting the existing relations to a new height at bilateral and multilateral forums.

At the Vietnam-European Union inter-parliament meeting on December 5, Langen Werner, chairman of the delegation for relations with the Southeast Asian countries, acknowledged the Vietnam National Assembly’s efforts in finalising its legal system to meet the requirements of international integration.

He proposed that the European Parliament and the Vietnamese legislative body maintain the exchange of high-level delegation visits to share experience in law-making and expand bilateral cooperation in economics, trade and investment.

According to Langen Werner, the European Union wants to foster relations with Vietnam and assist the country in poverty reduction efforts. He also voiced EU support for speeding up negotiations of a free trade agreement with Vietnam.

While in Brussels, Belgian government and parliamentary leaders confirmed that relations between Belgium and Vietnam are developing well. They suggested that both countries increase the exchange of business delegations to bolster economic and trade ties.

Secretary of State Mark Eyskens said Belgian companies are showing keen interest in Vietnam’s investment environment and business opportunities. He expressed hope that bilateral cooperation between Belgium and Vietnam will be more fruitful in the future.

In the UK, Lindsay Hoyle, Deputy Speaker of the UK House of Commons, proposed that the two legislative bodies encourage their governments to quickly settle pending issues in economic, trade and investment ties in order to meet objectives set in the Vietnam-UK joint statement on strategic partnership.

He described the joint statement signed in 2010 as a milestone in bilateral relations and said this partnership has since developed well.

The UK wants to develop long-term relationship with Vietnam and increase cooperation in politics, economics, science-technology and in adapting to climate change with the Southeast Asian country, said Lindsay Hoyle.

He echoed Mr Hung’s view that a Vietnam-UK joint commission should be established to draw up specific plans for bilateral cooperation.

In an interview granted to the media, Tran Van Hang, chairman of the National Assembly Committee for External Relations, said Mr Hung’s European trip was successful in deepening cooperative relations between Vietnam and Belgium, the UK and the European Parliament.