Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation paid official visits to Belgium, the European Union (EU), Italy and the UK from January 17-24, 2013.

Belgium’s Prince Philippe receives Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

The visits marked an important landmark and served as a robust impetus to promote and expand fine multi-faceted relations between Vietnam and western European countries. The leaders of the EU and the countries of Belgium, Italy and the UK highly appreciated the first visit to the EU and western European countries by Nguyen Phu Trong as the Party General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. They considered the visits an important event to lift the relations between Vietnam and the EU and Belgium, Italy and the UK to a high level.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong talks with the President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives Andre Flahaut and Belgian Senate President Sabine Baronne De Bethune. In the photo: Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong signs the gold commemorative book.

In Brussels, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had talks with Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, Chairman of the EU Council Herman Van Ropuy, Chairman of the EU Committee Jose Manuel Barroso; had meetings with Belgian Prince Philipe, the President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives Andre Flahaut and Belgian Senate President Sabine Baronne De Bethune; met and worked with Brussels City Mayor Freddy Thielemans, and the Minister-Presidents of Wallonia-Brussels and Flanders regions, Rudy Demotte and Kris Peeters.

The visits aimed at continually implementing the Party and State’s external policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, multilateralization and diversification of international relations and affirmed the country’s policy on strengthening and developing relations between Vietnam and the EU and countries which have important roles in Europe. The visits took place at a significant time when Vietnam and its European partners are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties and coincided with the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s first arrival in the UK in 1913.

The visits offered a chance for the European partners to understand more about Vietnam and its renewal achievements and foreign policy, thus increasing mutual understanding and winning the partners’ cooperation and support.

During these visits, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation had talks with senior leaders and meetings with enterprises and leaders of localities. All the talks and meetings took place in an open, straightforward and result-oriented manner. They also witnessed the signing of a series of agreements, documents and cooperation programmes in different fields, such as economics, trade, investment, education-training, national defence and security and culture, and some specific projects.

In Rome, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong talked with President Giorgio Napolitano, met with Prime Minister Mario Monti, attended the celebration of 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Italy and received Secretary General of the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) of Italy Paolo Ferrero in Rome. The two sides signed a joint declaration on establishing the Vietnam-Italy Strategic Partnership and met Pope Benedic XVI at the Vatican.

Vietnam upgraded its cooperation with Italy to a strategic partnership, while achieving agreement on measures to strengthen its strategic partnership with the UK, boosting multi-faceted ties with Belgium and deepening cooperation with the EU. The Party General Secretary also had a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in the spirit of frankness and mutual understanding.

In terms of political relations, the Party General Secretary and the host leaders agreed to strengthen political ties as a foundation for developing their long-term relations in all aspects, especially economics, trade and investment. They agreed to increase dialogues and maintain the exchange of high-ranking visits of delegations at all levels and discussed cooperation potential and measures to promote and expand cooperation on economics, trade and investment.

The Party General Secretary and the leaders of the EU applauded the signing of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and pledged to actively promote the process of negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement in the future. They agreed that the two sides should expand and further increase the effectiveness of cooperation between Vietnam and the European partners in the fields of defence and security and promote related sectors and ministries to carry out the current cooperation mechanisms and agreement reached during the visits. The two sides discussed measures to boost cooperation in the fields of anti-crime, policy dialogue and cooperation on military techniques.

The leaders agreed to continue cooperation and coordination at multilateral forums and spent much time discussing measures to boost the ASEAN-EU ties. They emphasised the role of Vietnam as a coordinator of ASEAN-EU relations, serving as a bridge for promoting the relations between the two important regions of the world. They also debated measures to protect peace and boost development in Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific.

In London, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong talked with Prime Minister David Cameron, met with Crown Prince Charles, laid a wreath at the Ho Chi Minh memorial plate in London and attended a ceremony to launch the Friends of Vietnam Network.

The Vietnamese side received the sympathy and support of the EU and the three countries for its stance of solving the disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and in the spirit of the Declaration on Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea (DOC) towards the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.

The visits by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong ended successfully, creating an impetus to promote the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and the EU and between Vietnam and Belgium, Italy and the UK.

Below are the pictures of the trip:  

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong talks with the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had a talk with the President of the EU Commission Jose Manuel Barroso.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong talks with Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Supporting Vietnam’s Climate Change Adaptation.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong talks with the President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives Andre Flahaut and Belgian Senate President Sabine Baronne De Bethune. In the photo: Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong signs the gold commemorative book.

Italian Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano welcomes Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong talks with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong witnesses the signing of an action programme on educational cooperation between Vietnam and Italy in the 2013-2016 period.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong witnesses the signing of a Joint Announcement on establishing the Vietnam-Italy Strategic Partnership.

On January 21, 2013 Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong attends the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Italy held at Rome.

Pope Benedict XVI receives Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong meets with Prime Minister of the Vatican, Cardinal Tarcisio Berton.

Prime Minister David Cameron welcomes Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

The signing of an agreement between Vietnam and the UK’s Defence Ministries on establishing a bilateral working group on defence cooperaiton.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and leaders of the Friends of Vietnam Network pose for a photo.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong meets with Crown Prince Charles.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and delegates visit the Ho Chi Minh memorial plate in London.

VNP/VNA