General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam and his spouse meet with Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. Photo: VNA

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam and his spouse met with Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in Brussels on October 23 morning (local time) during their ongoing official visit to Belgium.

King Philippe said the visit comes as the traditional friendship and wide-ranging cooperation between the two countries grow, and voiced confidence it would be an important milestone and give new impetus to upgrading ties soon.

He congratulated Vietnam on its socio-economic gains and rising global standing. Belgium places great importance on the relationship and stays ready to support Vietnam in reaching its sustainable development goals, he said.

The King also recalled fond memories of his past visits and close affinity with the Vietnamese people, and thanked Vietnam for the warm welcome during his 2025 state visit.

Expressing his delight at meeting King Philippe again, General Secretary and President Lam affirmed the strong bonds between the two countries and their people. He singled out the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, which he commended as the only legislature in the world to date to adopt a resolution backing Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin, a sign of humanitarian spirit and deep solidarity between the two peoples.

Sharing this deeply humanitarian significance, King Philippe also underscored Belgium’s support for, sympathy and solidarity with AO/dioxin victims.

General Secretary and President Lam, for his part, said the King and Queen’s recent visit to Vietnam created strong momentum to bilateral ties across various fields.

To lift ties to a new level, he proposed that the two sides make better use of their economic, trade and investment cooperation potential, especially in areas of shared strength such as seaports, science-technology, and semiconductors.

He thanked Belgium for the Chamber of Representatives’ approval of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, and said he expects its entry into force to create more favourable conditions for two-way investment and trade.

The two leaders agreed to keep fostering cooperation in education-training, culture and people-to-people exchanges. With more Belgians living, working and travelling in Vietnam, he suggested the King continue supporting the Vietnamese community in Belgium so its members can contribute more to Belgium and the friendship between the two countries.

On strategic and global issues, the two sides showed strong consensus on major orientations to broadening cooperation and are determined to upgrade ties to a Strategic Partnership in the coming period.

The host and guest reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism, stressing the UN’s role and strict adherence to international law and the UN Charter in maintaining global peace, stability and cooperation./.