Vietnam expected that the Netherlands will support it in connecting ports and industrial zones with Europe, helping to increase Vietnam’s exports to these markets, according to a phone talk between the two governments’ heads on December 6.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the phone talk with Dutch PM Mark Rutte on Dec 6. Photo: VNA

The Netherlands, which has a world-class logistics network, works as Vietnam’s biggest import market in the European Union (EU) and an entrepot to ship Vietnamese goods to Europe, Chinh told Dutch Prime Mark Rutte. 

To promote bilateral trade, Chinh expected the Dutch parliament to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

The phone talk also covered logistics and ports, climate adaptation, circular economy, and sustainable agriculture, and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

For his part, Mark Rutte highly appreciated the achievements that Vietnam has attained in recent years, notably results in the pandemic fight, saying that the two countries need to closely coordinate to promote investment and trade.

Given impact of climate change, it requires both countries to make efforts to make the given targets met, Mark Rutte said.

For that reason, the two PMs agreed to conduct cooperation programs in the future, including a master planning of the Mekong Delta toward 2030 with a vision to 2050; a program on sustainable agricultural transformation in the delta; the development of circular economy and renewable energy.

In addition, more joint programs in education and tourism were also included in the talk.

Regarding trade, the two-way trade hit US$6.7 billion in the first ten months this year, up 13% on-year.

In terms of investment, the Netherlands is the biggest EU investor in Vietnam, pouring $10.4 billion into 375 projects with Damen in shipbuilding, Heineken in the beverage sector, Unilever in chemicals and cosmetics, Royal Dutch Shell in petroleum exploration and distribution, and Philips in electronics, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In the past five years, the bilateral trade made an average growth rate of 11.5% per year while the Netherlands’ average investment into Vietnam rose 31.5% annually on average, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs. 

Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Dutch PM Mark Rutte in Hanoi in October 2019. Photo: VGP