Belgian Senate President’s visit to boost parliamentary cooperation The upcoming eight-day visit to Vietnam by President of the Belgian Senate Christine Defraigne aims to strengthen the exchange of experience and cooperation between the two legislative bodies as a significant contribution to deepening good relations between the two nations. President of the Belgian Senate Christine Defraigne will lead a high-ranking delegation on an official visit to Vietnam from November 1-8 at the invitation of National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung. Belgium greatly appreciates the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in boosting bilateral cooperation across a variety of fields where the two countries have strengths, potential and needs such as economics, trade, investment, culture, innovation, education and training, said the Belgium Embassy in Vietnam. During her official visit to Vietnam, the Belgian Senate President is scheduled to have talks with NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, meet Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and work with Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh, and Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan.   President of the Belgian Senate Christine Defraigne  (Photo: lesoir.be) She is also to have working sessions with some local leaders and visit a number of Belgian- invested businesses in Vietnam. The ties of friendship and all-around cooperation between Vietnam and Belgium have grown constantly over the past 42 years since they established diplomatic ties in 1973. As traditional development partners, the two countries are sparing no efforts to deepen bilateral relations in various fields- economics, trade, investment, culture, the environment and water resources, education, innovation, and tourism. Vietnam- Belgium trade turnover has increased considerably over recent years, the Belgium Embassy said, with bilateral trade posting a year-on-year growth of 27.4% to reach over US$2.3 billion last year. Belgium is Vietnam’s sixth largest trading partner in the EU, having roughly 1,000 companies exporting products to Vietnam. Belgium is also the 8th largest EU nation importing Vietnamese goods. The total value of trade exchange between the two nations has exceeded the 1.2 billion euro milestone per year with more and more Belgian companies pouring investments into the Southeast Asian nation. Vietnam welcomes around 10,000 Belgian visitors each year while more and more Vietnamese tourists come to Belgium. Since 1978, more than 2,000 Vietnamese students, officials and researchers have studied in Belgium, many of them are Belgium scholarship recipients. Belgian universities has partnered with Vietnamese counterparts over the past 20 years, making a great deal of great accomplishments. VOV