Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is welcomed at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

The Dutch leader and his entourage were greeted at the airport by Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Ngo Huong Nam and other officials from the foreign ministry, along with Ambassador Kees van Baar and staff of the Dutch Embassy in Vietnam.

The visit is expected to continue lifting the bilateral relations to a new height as the two countries are celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of their diplomatic ties this year.

This will be Rutte’s third visit to Vietnam, after his trips in June 2014 when the two countries agreed to set up a strategic partnership in agriculture and food security, and in April 2019 when the bilateral relationship was upgraded to a comprehensive partnership.

Baar said that the main focus of this visit is to promote bilateral cooperation in high technology and digital transformation.

The Netherlands is one of Vietnam’s leading important and time-tested partners. It is currently Vietnam’s biggest investor in the European Union with combined capital of 13.7 billion USD, and the largest importer of Vietnamese products in Europe, with two-way trade surpassing 11 billion USD.

Vietnam and the Netherlands signed an agreement on strategic partnership in climate change and water management in 2010, and another on strategic partnership in agriculture and food security in 2014.