Top leader To Lam’s visit boosts Vietnam’s ties with EU, Belgium

This is the first official visit to the EU and Belgium by Party General Secretary and President To Lam following the successful organization of the 14th National Party Congress and the election of the 16th National Assembly in Vietnam.

The trip conveys a strong message regarding the country’s foreign policy in a new era of development, helping enhance political trust while expanding scope for cooperation in trade, investment, science and technology, innovation, green growth, and sustainable development to serve national construction and development.

With 27 member states and a population of about 450 million, the EU stands as the world’s third-largest economy with a gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding US$19 trillion, with its extra-EU trade accounting for roughly 14% of global trade.

Since the formal establishment of diplomatic ties on November 28, 1990, Vietnam-EU relations have progressed positively. The two sides have signed five cooperation agreements and established eight periodic dialogue mechanisms, making Vietnam the sole ASEAN country to maintain all pillars of cooperation with the bloc.

The EU affirms that it values Vietnam’s regional standing and considers the nation a gateway to enhance its presence in the Asia-Pacific. In particular, the upgrade of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during European Council President António Costa’s visit to Vietnam in January 2026 marked a historic milestone, making Vietnam the first ASEAN member state to establish the highest framework of ties with the EU, demonstrating high political trust and a shared strategic vision.

In trade and investment, after six years of implementation, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has proven highly effective, positioning Vietnam as the EU’s largest trading partner in ASEAN. Two-way trade turnover reached nearly US$74 billion in 2025. The EU ranks as Vietnam’s fourth-largest trading partner, third-largest export market, and sixth-largest import market, while Vietnam is the EU’s top trading partner in ASEAN and among its top 10 suppliers of goods.

Cooperation in science, technology, and innovation has become a new cooperation pillar between Vietnam and many EU member states.

In a rapidly changing world, Vietnam and the EU share many similarities, including sustainable values, support for multilateralism, peacebuilding, and the elimination of risks from armed violence and localized conflicts to leverage advantages for comprehensive development.

Their shared vision for a peaceful, secure, safe, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region and world, alongside mutual commitment to respecting international law, supporting free trade, and promoting sustainable development, will create impetus for deeper and broader strategic cooperation.

Alongside strengthening ties with the EU, the visit to Belgium by top Vietnamese leader To Lam is set to open up new opportunities for bilateral cooperation. Over more than 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations on March 22, 1973, bilateral ties between Vietnam and Belgium have continually grown across federal, regional, and community levels.

Belgium always  attaches importance to its relations with Vietnam, highly values the country’s economic development, and acts as an international partner actively contributing to Vietnam’s success through development cooperation programs. The two sides actively coordinate at multilateral forums, particularly at the United Nations and within the frameworks of ASEM and ASEAN-EU.

In economics, trade, and investment, Belgium is Vietnam’s sixth-largest export market in Europe, while Vietnam is Belgium’s largest trading partner in ASEAN. Two-way trade turnover hit more than US$3 billion during the eight-month period of 2026. As of the end of 2025, Belgium had 104 investment projects in Vietnam with total registered capital exceeding US$1.1 billion.

Within the strategic partnership framework in agriculture established in 2018, the two countries are carrying out  technical cooperation programs between universities and agricultural research institutes, developing a waterway logistics system for Vietnamese agricultural exports to Europe, promoting smart cold supply chains, and expanding cooperation in cocoa production and food safety. Cooperation in other fields such as defence, security, culture, education and training, and local-level ties continues to be actively enhanced, yielding significant results.

The two countries also coordinate closely and support each other at multilateral forums and mechanisms, including the United Nations. In October 2023, the Belgian House of Representatives passed a resolution supporting Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange. This marked the first time a foreign parliament adopted such a resolution, helping raise international awareness and calling on countries to support Vietnamese Agent Orange victims.

This visit by Party and State leader To Lam reaffirms Vietnam’s pioneering role and position as ASEAN’s bridgehead in cooperation with the EU. Given the broad potential for cooperation and strong confidence in the future of bilateral ties, built on notable achievements over the past 35 years, the trip offers an opportunity for both sides to further deepen key cooperation pillars, especially in trade, investment, science and technology, and human resources training, thereby turning Vietnam-EU relations into a model within the ASEAN-EU cooperation framework.

For Belgium, the visit follows King Philippe’s state visit to Vietnam in April 2025, taking place at a favorable juncture after more than 50 years of diplomatic relations and eight years of implementing the Strategic Partnership in Agriculture with high political trust, mutual understanding, and deepening ties. The visit enables both sides to make a major breakthrough in cooperation in areas where Belgium has strengths and Vietnam prioritizes, such as science and technology, semiconductors, renewable energy, green agriculture, innovation, logistics, and smart seaports.

The visit by top Vietnamese leader To Lam is expected to create a strategic shift, consolidate political trust at the highest level, and open new opportunities for cooperation to boost development capacity and strategic autonomy for both Vietnam and its partners in a new phase of development, contributing positively to peace, cooperation, and sustainable development in both regions and globally.

The visit by Party General Secretary and President To Lam is expected to generate a strategic breakthrough, consolidate political trust at the highest level, and open new opportunities for cooperation to boost development capacity and strategic autonomy for both Vietnam and its partners in a new era of development, making positive contributions to peace, cooperation, and sustainable development in both regions and globally.

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