PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc shakes hands with Dutch PM Mark Rutte in The Hague, the Netherlands on July 10, 2017. Photo: VGP
At the talks, PM Phuc congratulated on the victory of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy led by PM Mark Rutte in the parliament election last March.
PM Phuc affirmed Vietnam always attaches importance to consolidating and enhancing ties with the Netherlands – one of the top European partners of Vietnam.
The Netherlands is the second biggest European trade partner of Vietnam with the two-way trade volume reaching US$6.7 billion last year and the biggest European investor in Vietnam with total registered capital of US$7.7 billion.
Meanwhile, PM Mark Rutte said his country expects to further deepen cooperation with Vietnam - one of its top partners and potential markets in Southeast Asia.
The Government and business community of the Netherlands support early signing and approval of the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement as it will open up new opportunities for trade and investment cooperation with Vietnam, the host PM said.
The two PMs spoke highly of positive advancements of the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation, discussing ways to accelerate ties in such fields like climate change adaptation and water management, agriculture, oil and gas, logistics and seaport building.
They reaffirmed their resolve to further deepen the bilateral relationship in a sustainable manner, agreeing to maintain delegation exchanges, especially high-level ones in order to strengthen mutual trust and understanding.
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Dutch PM Mark Rutte and the World Bank Country Director in Viet Nam sign a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in food safety management. Photo: VGP
Both sides vowed to create favorable conditions for their business circles to foster cooperation in priority areas like climate change and water management, high-tech agriculture, renewable energy, logistics and seaport development.
They also agreed to step up coordination and mutual support at international organizations and multi-lateral forums and strengthen bilateral cooperation in defense-security and UN-led peace-keeping operations.
Regarding the East Sea issue, the two PMs underlined the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea.
PM Mark Rutte stressed on his country’s consistent position of settling disputes through peaceful measures and complying with diplomatic and legal processes in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
After their talks, the two PMs and the World Bank Country Director in Vietnam signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in food safety management.
PM Phuc took the occasion to invite PM Mark Rutte to visit Vietnam and the latter accepted the invitation with pleasure.
