Brussels (VNA) – The Belgian VietnameseAlliance (BVA) and the Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT) held a meeting onMay 3 with a delegation of Belgian businesses ahead of the delegation’s visitto Vietnam from May 13-18 to explore cooperation opportunities.

The delegation of nearly 90 entrepreneurs from65 Belgian enterprises, led by Minister-President of Flanders Geert Bourgeois,is scheduled to visit Vietnam as part of activities to celebrate the 45thfounding anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.

Addressing the meeting, Vietnamese Ambassador toBelgium Vu Anh Quang praised the Flanders Minister-President for his efforts todevelop the relations between Vietnam and the Flanders region in recent years.

He hoped the upcoming visit will help Vietnameseand Belgian businesses to understand more about each other’s potential as wellas trade and investment cooperation opportunities.

The diplomat said the two nations are working toelevate the bilateral ties to strategic partnership in some specific fields. 

He added that the free trade agreement betweenEU and Vietnam, once signed and ratified, will open up numerous opportunitiesfor Vietnamese and Belgian enterprises to strengthen connectivity andcollaboration.

This will also help increase Belgium’sinvestment in Vietnam, particularly in the fields of shipbuilding, agriculture,high technology, and clean energy, contributing to promoting sustainable and greengrowth in Vietnam, the ambassador added.

For his part, Bourgeois hailed Vietnam’s strongdevelopment over the past 30 years with annual remarkable gross domesticproduct (GDP) growth of 6 - 7 percent. 

Vietnam holds a lot of potential for economic development,and in fact, the country has been successful not only in calling for foreigninvestment but also in reforming trade and administrative procedures, he said.

The Flanders leader added he has highexpectations for Belgium-Vietnam partnership, adding that he hoped the twocountries will work to improve trade balance in the coming time, citing thefact that the Flanders region exported 4.92 million EUR (5.8 million USD) worthof goods to Vietnam but imported 2 billion EUR from the market.

The reality shows that goods made in Belgium andVietnam, especially farm produce, are not competitive but supplementary,enabling the two countries to boost cooperation in trade and investment, headded.

On the occasion of five-day visit to Vietnam,businesses from the Flanders region will hold meetings, promotions and fieldtrips to promote their products and study cooperation opportunities withVietnamese partners.-VNA