Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh leaves Hanoi for the Summit to celebrate the 45th anniversary of ASEAN-EU relations and trip to three European countries.  Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

ASEAN and the EU established a dialogue relationship in 1977 and institutionalized it with the signing of the ASEAN-European Economic Community Cooperation Agreement (EEC) in 1980. They established a Strategic Partnership in 2020. Both are examples of successful regional cooperation.

Commitment to working together

This will be the first time since 1977 that ASEAN and the EU have held a Commemorative Summit in the EU, involving leaders of member countries. Ambassador of the EU to ASEAN Igor Driesmans, said: “It’s of-course quite historic that 27 European heads of state and government plus two institutional presidents will meet with all the ASEAN leaders that has never happened. In Brussels, we look forward to welcome all the ASEAN leaders. And it’s significant not just it reinforces the bilateral relationship between the EU and ASEAN even further but also we think it sends a message to the rest of the world that we come to work together and in the difficult geopolitical times and all of the uncertainties that we together chose for more cooperation more partnership instead of entering into further competition.”

45 years on, ASEAN-EU relations have developed dynamically and expanded to all fields. The two sides are now coordinating an Action Plan to implement their Strategic Partnership from 2023 to 2027. The EU says ASEAN holds a central position in the EU's cooperation strategy in the Indo-Pacific and it wants to promote extensive cooperation with ASEAN. The bright spot in their cooperation is economics and trade. In 2021, the two were each other's third largest trading partners, with a total bilateral trade value of nearly 270 billion USD.

An active and responsible member of ASEAN, Vietnam strives to contribute to the ASEAN-EU and Vietnam-EU relations. Vietnam was the first ASEAN country to have engaged in all cooperation frameworks with the EU: politics, economics, defense and security. More than 2 years after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect, the export turnover of Vietnamese goods to the EU in the first 10 months of 2022 totaled more than 52 billion USD, making Vietnam the EU’s 14th largest trading partner.

Ambassador Driesmans said: “I think Vietnam is obviously one country in the region with whom we have very close relations. We have a free trade agreement which has entered into force. We have a political cooperation agreement and a framework participation agreement which allows Vietnamese military to take part in EU peacekeeping and other civilian missions. So the institutional setup is already very strong. Definitely for us Vietnam is a major partner bilaterally but also when we work with ASEAN.”

Vietnam's top economics-investment partnership in Europe

Vietnam will join Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium in celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2023. The three countries are leading economics-investment partners of Vietnam in Europe.

Vietnam-Luxembourg relations have flourished, particularly in investment and development assistance. Luxembourg is the EU's third largest investor in Vietnam with a total investment capital of 2.6 billion USD, and is one of the EU countries to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). Both are promoting cooperation in ecological agriculture and climate change response.

The Netherlands is the EU's largest investor in Vietnam with 380 projects worth 13.5 billion USD. Within the Strategic Partnership on Climate Change and Sustainable Agriculture, they have undertaken multiple cooperation programs and projects with medium and long-term orientations.

Within the Strategic Partnership on Agriculture framework, Vietnam and Belgium have been engaged in the water-by-wind (WbW) demonstration model  project since September 2021 in An Hai commune, the south central province of Ninh Thuan. Using renewable energy to filter saltwater into freshwater for production and daily living, the project is an example of effective cooperation.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said: The ‘water-by-wind demonstration model’ using ODA capital from the Belgian Government is a testament to the much-anticipated cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This successful project will create a lot of opportunities for Ninh Thuan and other provinces affected by saline intrusion due to climate change. Cooperation with foreign partners means a lot to the agricultural sector to overcome the adverse effects of climate change.”

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit this time will affirm Vietnam's growing position in the three countries' priorities for the Indo-Pacific region and help Vietnam expand cooperation to meet its development needs. During the trip Prime Minister Chinh and his entourage will convey the message of a strongly recovering Vietnam, which is ready to cooperate with other countries to build a region of peace and stability and uphold multilateralism.