Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh holds talks with Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte

At their talks in Ha Noi during the Dutch Prime Minister's ongoing visit to Viet Nam, Prime Minister Pham highly valued the sincere friendship and trustful partnership between Viet Nam and the Netherlands, and affirmed that the two countries are determined to cooperate with each other for common self-reliance and sustainable development.

Rutte affirmed that Viet Nam is a prioritised and important partner of the Netherlands in the Indo-Pacific region with a relationship starting more than 400 years ago since merchant vessels of the Netherlands docked at Hoi An port of Viet Nam.

He showed his impression at the achievements Viet Nam has made during the socio-economic recovery and development after Covid-19 pandemic and since his visit in 2019.

The two Prime Ministers spoke highly of the efforts in realising commitments and cooperation agreements since Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to the Netherland in December 2022, with bustling delegation exchanges, the effective implementation of cooperation mechanisms, and the signing of new collaboration deals.

Affirming that economy-trade is an important pillar in the bilateral ties, they agreed to continue to fully and efficiently realise the EU- Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

He suggested that the Netherlands support the European Commission (EC)'s removal of the "yellow card" against Vietnam's seafood export, ratify the EU- Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) soon, and encourage Dutch firms to invest more in Viet Nam in the fields of high technology, seaport, and strategic infrastructure.

Prime Minister Rutte underlined that Dutch enterprises highly value Viet Nam's political stability and favourable investment-business environment. He agreed to speed up the ratification of the EVIPA, spoke highly of Viet Nam's efforts to promote sustainable fisheries development, and pledged to work with other EU members to support Viet Nam in the field.

The two Prime Ministers concurred to continue expanding the framework of their strategic partnership in climate change response, water management, and sustainable agriculture, contributing to joint efforts in tackling global challenges. Particularly, the two sides will foster collaboration in the fields of offshore sand mining, green economic development, circular economy, climate change-resilient urban development, high-quality human resources training for climate change respsonse and water resources management, irrigation, and natural disaster prevention.

Prime Minister Pham proposed that the Netherlands and G7 countries support Viet Nam in technology, finance, human resources and institutional improvement to effectively implement the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), while establishing a trilateral cooperation mechanism on agriculture, contributing to solving global food security problems.

Prime Minister Rutte affirmed that the Netherlands will assist Viet Nam in implementing the Mekong Delta planning for the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050 as well as the plan on sustainable agricultural transition in the region, and in completing the legal framework regarding water management.

The two sides underlined that science-technology and innovation are breakthrough areas and agreed to optimise the potential for bilateral cooperation in high technology, electronic circuit and semiconductor device production, digital platform and telecommunications ecosystem building, digital transformation, and human resources development in these fields.

Viet Nam and the Netherlands will expand cooperation in promising areas such as exploration and sustainable exploitation of important minerals, defence-security, customs, shipping, logistics, and people-to-people exchanges.

The Dutch Prime Minister described the Vietnamese community in his country as an important part of the host society, pledging to continue creating favourable conditions for the community to successfully integrate  themselves there and act as a bridge for bilateral friendship.

At the talks, the two Prime Ministers discussed a number of regional and international issues of shared interest. They agreed to continue to coordinate with and support each other at international and regional organisations, especially the UN and within the ASEAN-EU partnership framework.

Prime Minister Rutte lauded Viet Nam's external policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation, and settlement of disputes through peaceful measures on the basis of international law.

Prime Minister Pham congratulated the Netherlands on becoming a development partner of the ASEAN, and expressed his hope that the European country will engage more deeply in and giving more initiatives to the promotion of the ASEAN-EU relations in general and the ASEAN-Netherlands relationship in particular.

Regarding the East Sea issue, the two sides showed support for the ensuring of maritime and aviation security and safety as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes in line with international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the negotiations on a substantial and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) between ASEAN and China.

Following the talks, the two Prime Ministers witnessed the exchange of cooperation agreements among ministries, sectors and associations of the two countries over areas of sustainable exploration and exploitation of important minerals, customs, investment, and trade./.