General Secretary To Lam receives King Philippe of Belgium in Hanoi on April 1 (Photo: NEWS)

During the meeting, the Vietnamese Party leader expressed confidence that the King’s visit—accompanied by high-ranking officials, business leaders, and representatives of universities, and research institutes—would generate fresh momentum, enhancing Vietnam-Belgium friendship and cooperation across multiple sectors in deeper, more practical and more effective manner.

He urged the two countries to expand cooperation in trade, investment, sustainable agriculture, high-quality human resource training, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

Mr. Lam also highlighted the need for deeper cooperation in science, technology, and innovation, particularly in leveraging Belgian university business development models to help Vietnam achieve its development goals for 2030 and 2045.

The General Secretary also underscored the necessity of facilitating travel and trade between citizens of both countries and urged Belgium to expedite the ratification of the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), which would help attract a new wave of European and Belgian investments into Vietnam.

Both General Secretary To Lam and King Philippe agreed on the importance of closer coordination at global and regional forums to uphold multilateralism, the rule of law, and shared international responsibility in addressing global and regional challenges.