Party General Secretary and President To Lam’s visit opens new chapter with Europe

On the morning of October 25, the top Vietnamese Party and State leader, his spouse, and a high-ranking delegation arrived at Noi Bai International Airport, successfully concluding state visits to Denmark, an official visit to the European Union (EU), and Belgium at the invitations of King Frederik X and the Queen of Denmark, President of the European Council António Costa, and Prime Minister of Belgium Bart De Wever.

Upgrading Vietnam - Denmark relations to new heights

With a rich array of practical results, the working trip left a profound mark, serving as a milestone that opens a promising new chapter of development in relations between Vietnam and Denmark, the EU, and Belgium.

Leaders of the host countries extended respectful, warm, and exceptionally high-level receptions to Vietnamese top leader To Lam, his spouse, and the high-ranking delegation throughout the visits.

Notably, in Denmark, when the special aircraft carrying Party General Secretary and President To Lam, his wife, and the high-ranking delegation entered Danish airspace, a formation of fighter jets appeared to welcome and escort the aircraft to the capital Copenhagen.

King Frederik X and Queen Mary were present at the airport to welcome Party General Secretary and President To Lam and his spouse, and respectfully invited the top Vietnamese leader and his spouse into two horse-drawn carriages to proceed to Christian VII Palace. This showed the affection of King Frederik X and the Queen of Denmark toward the Vietnamese Party and State leader, his spouse, and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, as well as the Royal Government's high regard for its cooperative relations with Vietnam.

Over 55 years since establishing diplomatic relations, Vietnam and Denmark have stood side by side through challenging times and now look ahead to vast opportunities for cooperation in the new era. King Frederik X emphasized that the visit coincides with the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties (1971-2026), marking an important milestone in the friendship and cooperation between the two nations.

Party General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed that Vietnam always treasures the support and assistance provided by the Danish Government and people during difficult periods, as well as their valuable contributions to the country’s reconstruction and development.

The Vietnamese leader emphasized that every milestone in the development of bilateral ties bears the profound imprint of the Danish Royal Family. The attention and backing of the King, the Queen, and the Royal Family toward areas such as green transition, sustainable development, and environmental and ocean protection also serve as meaningful shared interests on the path of cooperation between the two nations.

Building on past cooperation achievements, the two sides agreed to adopt a Joint Statement upgrading Vietnam - Denmark relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, opening a new chapter in bilateral ties and establishing a new political framework and momentum to advance deep, substantive, and effective cooperation for the long-term benefit of both nations’ people, as well as for peace, stability, cooperation, and sustainable development regionally and globally.

They  identified economics, trade, and investment as key pillars of the new relationship, while placing special emphasis on cooperation in renewable energy, offshore wind power, green transition, seaports, logistics, and green maritime transport.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen assessed that Denmark-Vietnam cooperative relations will continue to grow and achieve even greater successes in the near future. Especially, during this visit, the two sides announced the upgrade of their diplomatic ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, opening a new chapter in bilateral relations.

In his activities in Denmark, Party General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed both countries’ resolve to make science-technology, green transition, and energy transition symbolic breakthrough areas for bilateral relations; and to innovate economic cooperation methods, shifting from support to co-creation to generate new value for both countries. He also asked the Danish Government, ministries, and agencies to continue paying attention to, encouraging, and creating favorable conditions for Danish businesses to step up investment and expand long-term operations in Vietnam.

With a foundation of profound, time-tested trust, in his policy speech at the University of Copenhagen, the General Secretary and President affirmed that the two countries need a comprehensive, more strategic “new cooperation model,” where Denmark’s strengths in science, technology, and green transition meet Vietnam’s political resolve and potential for rapid, sustainable development.

On this occasion, King Frederik X of Denmark presented Party General Secretary and President To Lam with the Order of the Elephant, Denmark’s highest order conferred upon members of the Royal Family and foreign heads of state.

The presentation of the Order of the Elephant by King Frederik X during the state visit of Party General Secretary and President To Lam on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties, carries profound political and diplomatic significance, reflecting high respect for the top leader and the Danish Royal Family’s appreciation for relations with Vietnam.

Vietnam - EU expand cooperation in technology, clean energy

The official visit to the EU by Party General Secretary and President To Lam reaffirmed both sides' commitment to continuing to deepen the Vietnam-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, established in January 2026.

During their talks and meetings, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission both affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner of the EU in the Indo-Pacific region. Based on a shared vision for blue economy development, ocean protection, and maritime security, both sides consented to study and strengthen maritime economic cooperation into the next pillar of bilateral ties.

Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, stated that the dynamism of Vietnam's economy and Vietnam's industrial development goals, combined with the EU's research capabilities and technological capacity, will bring opportunities for both sides to build shared values in clean energy, semiconductors, AI, healthcare, manufacturing modernization, expansion of local supply chains, and the creation of quality jobs for both economies.

Party and State leader To Lam reiterated that Vietnam identifies the EU as one of its top priority partners with extensive shared interests and long-term cooperation potential. He expressed the desire for both sides to enhance  deeper economic, trade, and investment ties, turning commitments into concrete results and practical cooperation projects, while continuing to effectively leverage the potential and advantages offered by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

During the visit, Party General Secretary and President To Lam attended a high-level roundtable with leaders of leading European businesses. Business representatives discussed cooperation opportunities, investment and business directions, and proposed solutions and cooperation models in infrastructure, logistics, high technology, digital transformation, green economy, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, high-tech agriculture, and food processing.

Through economic and trade forums and business meetings, many European corporations and enterprises presented plans and projects expected to be implemented in Vietnam, with a preliminary total estimated value of around 20 billion euros. In addition, numerous documents and cooperation agreements were signed between ministries, agencies, localities, and enterprises, contributing to concrete prospects for cooperation in the coming period.

Additionally, Vietnam and its partners agreed to continue effectively utilizing the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), promote trade and investment, and remove difficulties and obstacles.

Vietnam proposed pushing for the remaining EU member states to early ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and urged the EU to soon lift the "yellow card" warning on Vietnamese seafood regarding illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Belgium ratifies EVIPA, opening further opportunities to attract investment

In the Kingdom of Belgium, right before their meeting, leaders of the Belgian Parliament were pleased to inform the Party General Secretary and President that the Belgian Federal House of Representatives had officially voted to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). The EVIPA is not only a high-quality legal protection instrument aimed at attracting high-quality investment flows, but also demonstrates deep political trust between the two nations; this serves as a vivid testament to the potential and determination for economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two countries.

Earlier, in October 2023, the Belgian House of Representatives adopted a resolution supporting Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, contributing to raising international awareness. This marked the first and, to date, only time a foreign parliament has adopted such a resolution, showing Belgium’s sentiment of friendship, humanitarian spirit, and accompaniment in overcoming war consequences in Vietnam.

During their exchanges and working sessions, Vietnamese and Belgian leaders affirmed strong political determination to further deepen the traditional friendship and all-around cooperation between Vietnam and Belgium, propelling bilateral relations toward substantive and effective development that meets the practical interests of both nations’people.

On economics, trade, and investment, both sides concurred on the need to create new breakthroughs, accelerating large-scale, strategic cooperation projects in areas where Belgium possesses traditional strengths and Vietnam has urgent needs, such as seaport development, smart logistics chains, green energy, eco-industrial parks, and climate-adaptive high-tech agriculture.

Senior leaders of the two countries agreed on a vision toward elevating relations to a Strategic Partnership, commensurate with the increasingly broad scope of cooperation that extends beyond the framework of the sectoral strategic partnership in agriculture.

The visit opened new directions for cooperation, closely aligned with Vietnam’s development needs and Belgium’s strengths, aiming for flagship projects in seaports, logistics, clean energy, science and technology, and high-quality human resource training. A highlight of the visit was that discussions took place at both the federal level and with Belgium’s regions and localities, booting broader and deeper cohesion in bilateral cooperation.

Seaports, logistics become potential cooperation areas with Belgium

Within the framework of the visit, Party General Secretary and President To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation visited the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Europe’s second-largest port and a key hub for international trade and industry.

Vietnam’s top leader stressed  that cooperation results are a valuable asset of Vietnam-Flanders relations, which need to be further promoted in the new phase. With the determination to become a strong and prosperous maritime nation, Vietnam is accelerating the development of a synchronized and modern infrastructure system, aiming to build a modern, green, and smart seaport system, enhance seaport connectivity with inland waterways, railways, and other transport modes, and step by step improve the efficiency of connection with global supply chains and trade networks.

On this occasion, Part General Secretary and President To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation witnessed the signing ceremony of an agreement between the Vietnam Maritime Corporation and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges on a comprehensive cooperation framework, creating a foundation to step up cooperation in maritime, seaport, and logistics sectors, while strengthening trade connectivity among Vietnam, Belgium, and Europe.

He also met with representatives of the Vietnamese community in Nordic countries and across Europe, with the meeting in Belgium attended by representatives from 10 European nations. This served as an opportunity for Party and State leaders to provide updates on the country's situation, listen to the thoughts and aspirations of overseas Vietnamese, and encourage the community to continue integrating, making active contributions to their host countries, and turning toward their homeland. European partners also highly appreciated the contributions of the Vietnamese community in their respective host nations.

Turning diplomatic commitments into development resources

According to Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, the outstanding success of the visit to European partners by Party General Secretary and President To Lam both established and set directions for new steps of development in political relations, while creating further grounds to  beef up substantive cooperation with partners.

The outcomes of the visit also opened up broader cooperation space between Vietnam and Denmark, the EU, and Belgium, thereby serving the country's fast and sustainable development goals. The most important task in the coming period is to translate high-level shared awareness, commitments, and agreements into concrete programs, projects, and products.

The working trip of Party General Secretary and President To Lam played an important role in giving new stature to Vietnam’s good relations with Denmark, the EU, and Belgium, strongly  bringing into full play head-of-state diplomacy to mobilize valuable resources for national development, while creating a breakthrough step to transform cooperation opportunities and potential into concrete, practical action programs.

With the political determination of leaders on all sides, along with the proactiveness, creativity, and substantive implementation by ministries, sectors, localities, businesses, and research institutes, Vietnam’s relations with Denmark, the EU, and Belgium will continue to grow in scope, depth, and effectiveness, for the benefit of the people on each side.

The outcomes of the visit expanded the space for cooperation between Vietnam and European partners, thereby making an important contribution to the process of national construction and development.

General Secretary and President To Lam wraps up official visit to EU, Belgium

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam, his spouse and a high-level Vietnamese delegation left Brussels on October 24 noon (local time), concluding their official visit to the European Union (EU) and the Kingdom of Belgium.

Top leader gives policy speech in Brussels, sharing vision for Vietnam-EU ties

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam delivered a policy speech at Egmont – The Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels on the afternoon of October 23 (local time).

European media highlights substantive progress in Vietnam-EU relations

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