The Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Wallonia Export & Investment Agency (Belgium) will strengthen trade and investment cooperation between the two sides via a newly-signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on connectivity and cooperation in trade promotion activities.

The signing ceremony was held in Hanoi on November 27, in conjunction with the visit of a trade delegation from the Walloon Region (Belgium) to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from November 27 to December 1.

The signing ceremony. Photo: MoIT

 Le Hoang Tai, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, expressed the hope that this event will continue to lay the foundation for trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, as well as provide opportunities to strengthen exports, imports and investments between Vietnamese and Walloon entrepreneurs.

He added that Belgium is Vietnam's sixth largest trading partner within the EU, with a total trade value of US$4.3 billion in 2022. Vietnam is Belgium's second-largest trade and investment partner in Southeast Asia.

The economic and trade delegation from the Walloon region visiting Vietnam this time consists of 21 companies and organizations, according to Pascale Delcomminette, CEO of the Walloon Export & Investment Agency.

She noted that these companies operate in various sectors and industries, including pharmaceuticals, renewable energy and food, and have a range of sizes and business experience. They shared a common desire to explore and pursue cooperation opportunities with enterprises and organizations in Vietnam.

Delcomminette expressed her impression of Vietnam's dynamic and fast-growing economy and its growing middle-class population. Wallonia is a vibrant economic region with strong sectors such as science, aerospace and food processing.

She has a strategic geographical position as it is located in the center of Belgium, a country at the heart of Europe, which offers great potential for Vietnamese enterprises to boost export and import activities and attract investment.

In particular, the signing and coming into force of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement in 2020 has created favorable conditions for strong trade and investment promotion between the two sides.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Karl Van Den Bossche, Ambassador of Belgium to Vietnam, said that this is the 6th time the Belgian delegation has visited Vietnam to create opportunities for understanding and promoting business cooperation between the two countries.

Van Den Bossche hoped that Vietnam's exports to Belgium would increase and that Vietnam would continue to expand its imports from the Belgian market to achieve a more balanced trade relationship between the two sides.