Vietnam-Netherlands relations thrive in all aspects

Charge d’Affaires Pham Toan Thang speaks at the meeting - Photo: baoquocte

Participants at the meeting were Chief of Protocol from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Roelof van Ees; former ambassador to Vietnam Joop Scheffers; and representatives from ministries and businesses of the Netherlands.

Speaking at the meeting, Charge d’Affaires Pham Toan Thang said the atmosphere of spring seemed to bring new vitality to both countries.

In 2016, despite many difficulties and challenges, Vietnam still achieved success in fulfilling its development objectives: including a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.21 percent; total export revenue reached 175.9 billion USD, a year on year increase of 8.6 percent; and foreign investment attraction also saw a rise of 9 percent.

At the New Year meeting - Photo: baoquocte

In that context, the relationship between Vietnam and the Netherlands is thriving in all aspects from political trust to cooperation in climate change adaptation, water resources management, agriculture, and trade-economy. The Netherlands is currently one of the leading trade partners and investors of Vietnam in the European Union, he said.

The Charge d’Affaires attributed the fruitful results to not only Vietnam’s efforts but also the valuable support and effective cooperation of foreign partners, including Dutch ones. He took this occasion to thank Dutch friends for their contributions to pushing the two countries’ rapports forward.

Charge d’Affaires Pham Toan Thang expressed his belief that 2017 will be a successful year for the bilateral collaboration based on their friendship and effective partnership between the two nation’s ministries and agencies.

Kim Chi