Vietnam - Netherlands: Excellent Bilateral Relations

What are your views on the bilateral relations between the two countries?
As Asia Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to your country, I have had the privilege to witness Vietnam’s fascinating development over the past decade with my own eyes. A strategic location serving regional markets, a young and entrepreneurial population, a growing domestic market and a policy of international economic integration have made Vietnam to what it is today: a vibrant economy with great potential.

 

Our excellent bilateral relations have evolved successfully in line with the changing times. Away from traditional development aid to a broader and deeper partnership focusing on supporting bilateral economic cooperation to our mutual benefit. The Dutch are active in Vietnam in exactly those sectors which are key to Vietnam's development needs. Both our countries are world players in the export of agricultural products. We are both strategically located coastal states with a strong position in shipbuilding and logistics. And as delta countries we must both face the challenges and presented by climate change. But also in other fields like energy, we have a lot offer to each other. No wonder the Netherlands is Vietnam’s largest EU investor and third EU trading partner.

 

 

First of all, it is key for Vietnam to remain competitive in an upcoming region. To increase trade and investment with the EU, Vietnam must continue to open up its economy through economic and political reforms, including modernizing economic institutions, reforming the state-owned sector, encouraging public private partnerships, securing a level playing field and fighting red tape and corruption. Especially in times of lower economic growth, this can be difficult. However, I am confident that an FTA with the EU will help Vietnam to push forward with its reform agenda.

 

Secondly, my colleagues from other EU countries and the EU delegation are already doing a great deal to enhance cooperation with Vietnam. Besides their work, I would like to mention the activities of the Dutch organisation CBI, which in close cooperation with several trade institutions is supporting Vietnamese enterprises in many different sectors to increase their export to the EU. For example, by sharing market intelligence on the EU market and by training Vietnamese textile companies on handling FOB-orders.

 

The main purpose of the visit is to celebrate our excellent bilateral relations and to foster our cooperation in those sectors where we are natural partners. This will also be highlighted by several important documents to be signed during the visit. These include mayor business deals and a strategic partnership on sustainable agriculture and food security, a joint bilateral project presented last year to your government. The Prime Minister will also discuss the implementation of the Mekong Delta Plan together with the Vietnamese government and the international donor community. We hope we will be able to agree on the director for a sustainable social-economic development of the Mekong Delta. Special attention will be given to agribusiness development. Accompanied by many Dutch businesses, the Prime Minister will also talk about doing business with Vietnamese government officials and Vietnamese companies. Together with many Dutch equipment suppliers, he will visit the state-of-the-art Damen Song Cam shipyard in Haiphong, which will produce 80 ships per year, providing jobs and income to thousands. In addition, the Prime Minister will attend a ground breaking ceremony of a US$25 million warehouse of Steinweg, a major provider of logistical services with 4000 employees and 100 offices worldwide. Last but not least, the Dutch Minister for Agriculture will visit an agricultural high tech park, greenhouses and factories in Ho Chi Minh City, accompanied by major Dutch agriculture companies.