During the visit, PM Dung is expected to meet with European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk, and European Parliament President Martin Schulz to discuss measures to beef up cooperation in priority areas like energy, green growth, and vocational training.

The Vietnamese Government chief will also hold talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel to seek ways to accelerate cooperation in economy, trade, investment, transport, and aviation.

Viet Nam and the European Union set up diplomatic ties on November 11, 1900. The two sides signed the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in June 2012. Viet Nam ratified the agreement in 2013 while 24 out of the 28 European countries have approved the deal.

Both sides also completed negotiations on a free trade agreement on August 4 this year.

Trade is one of the major pillars of the Viet Nam-EU relations. The EU is Viet Nam’s second biggest trade partner after China and second export market after the United States.

The two-way trade rose to nearly US$37 billion last year from US$4.5 billion in 2001. The figure reached nearly US$31 billion in the first nine months of this year.

In terms of investment, European investors have poured US$21.53 billion in Viet Nam, in which the Netherlands tops the list with 239 projects worth nearly US$6.7 billion, followed by France with 436 capitalized at US$3.4 billion.

VN-Belgium relations

The bilateral relations have been developing well over the recent time through regular exchange of delegations at all level, consolidation of political and diplomatic ties, and expansion of economic, trade and investment linkages.

The two-way trade volume increased to US$1.2 billion in 2010 and US$2.3 billion in 2014 from US$400 million in 2000.

Belgium is the 6th biggest European importer of Viet Nam after Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, France and Spain. Viet Nam mainly exports footwear, garments, aquaculture, coffee and farm produce to the European market.

Regarding investment, as of October this year, Belgian investors pledged to pour US$420 million in 59 projects, focusing on such fields as processing and manufacturing.

Viet Nam is the only Asian country to receive development assistance from the Belgian Government with a total value of€66 million, mainly channeled to water supply, irrigation and waste treatment projects.

By Huong Giang