Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomes Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung in March in the Netherlands (Source: VNA)

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will pay an official visit to Vietnam from June 16-17, aiming to enhance bilateral ties in the fields where the Netherlands holds advantages, including climate change adaptation, agriculture, maritime economy, energy and logistics.

The visit, made at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, is also expected to offer a chance for both sides’ enterprises to share information about the investment and business environment and seek partners.

Vietnam and the Netherlands set up diplomatic ties in April 1973. Their bilateral relations have increasingly developed in recent times.

Their strategic partnership in climate change adaptation, the maritime sector, high-tech agriculture, water management and education has been promoted effectively.

Meanwhile, economic links between the two sides have also seen strong growth, with two-way trade hitting over 3.6 billion USD last year. The Netherlands is now Vietnam’s third largest importer in Europe after Germany and the UK.

As of 2013, it ranked 11 th among the 96 nations and territories investing in Vietnam, with 192 projects totaling 6.29 billion USD.

In the years since ties were established, the Netherlands has been one of the leading EU countries to provide non-refundable aid for Vietnam in education, environment, health and food safety.

The nation has also paid special attention to supporting Vietnam in climate change and water management as it considers Vietnam as one of the countries most affected by this phenomenon.

VNA