Ambassador of the Netherlands to Việt Nam Kees van Baar. — VNS Photo Trọng Kiên

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister of Netherlands Mark Rutte’s visit to Việt Nam will not only deepen existing foundational cooperation fields, but will also explore new opportunities in high-tech sectors, Netherlands Ambassador to Việt Nam Kees van Baar told local media.

The trip, made at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, is the third time PM Rutte has been to Việt Nam, which underlines the good relations that the two countries are witnessing.

“We are celebrating our 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, but of course, our ties were much older when it comes to people-to-people relations, when the first Holland ship sailed into Việt Nam the beginning of the 17th century,” the Dutch ambassador said.

The Việt Nam-Netherlands bilateral relation is very much based on water and agriculture, he remarked, adding that there are many similarities between our two countries as delta countries as well as the same challenges that both are facing.

The Ambassador said: “We went from [cooperation in] just water and agriculture, now spreading to climate change. The scope of cooperation in this issue is not just government to government, but also business to business, and most institutions like universities, research institutes, non-governmental organisations, all of them work together, on the issue of water and agriculture in Việt Nam and the Netherlands and I think this is the basis for our cooperation.”

Together with PM Chính and Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, PM Rutte will deliver a speech at the plenary session of the Green Economy Forum (GEF) 2023 held by Eurocham Việt Nam.

The diplomat highlighted the fact that PM Rutte is coming with a high tech mission comprising of representatives from about 40 companies, which is seen as the next step of cooperation. He will address the High-tech Business Forum organised by the Dutch Embassy at the Samsung R&D Centre in Hà Nội, according to the ambassador.

He recalled last December when PM Chính was visiting the Netherlands, during which the Vietnamese Government leader visited Rotterdam seaport, Schiphol airport, and most importantly, the innovative region of Brainport Eindhoven, an example of how one developshigh tech industry that Việt Nam is very much interested in.

“This Brainport is a result of cooperation between government, businesses, knowledge institutes, research and also non-governmental organisations.”

He said the Dutch high tech industry is interested in Việt Nam because there are so many high tech companies here – not just the Vietnamese companies like FPT or CMC, but also the foreign firms like Samsung, LG and Foxconn.

“Dutch businesses would like to see whether they could produce their high tech elements in another country outside of China. For them, it’s better to have other places or countries of production. That’s why they’re there not only going to Việt Nam, but also to Malaysia,” the ambassador said.

“During the visit, Dutch high tech companies will meet with Vietnamese high tech leaders, Vietnamese entrepreneurs, and also foreign entrepreneurs like Koreans, Japanese, Taiwanese and Americans, and see what the ecosystem in Việt Nam is like, what the entrepreneurial climate in Việt Nam is like, the state of high tech in Việt Nam, and of course, whether there are enough talents in the country for them to employ.”

During the visit, PM Rutte will also address roundtable conference “International Law and Order at Sea” jointly held by the Diplomatic Academy of Việt Nam and Netherlands’ Clingendael Academy, where a lot of Vietnamese diplomats were educated.

The ambassador said that small countries like the Netherlands and Việt Nam can profit from international law.

“If you are a small country, and you have big neighbours, it is international rule of law that is key for your existence and your survival,” he said, adding that international law at sea is important for Việt Nam and the Netherlands as both are seafaring nations.

“The sea is important for trade as well, and free trade is essential for the world economy, so this is an issue that will be discussed at the roundtable.”

Also during this activity, an exhibition titled “Mapping the Dragon: Việt Nam in the eyes of Dutch cartographers” will be displayed at the campus of the Diplomatic Academy to introduce maps of Việt Nam and the area drawn by Dutch cartographers from the late 16th century.

PM Rutte will be visiting the Hà Nội-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, which stands as an example of the people-to-people contacts, as the school was built from donations by the people in Amsterdam City and the Netherlands as a way to support Việt Nam.

“This was in its very early days even before we established diplomatic relations and that is also underscoring how important people to people contact is,” he stressed.

The ambassador also revealed that PM Rutte loves this activity since he himself is a teacher, teaching social studies at least once a week at a primary school in one of the poor areas in The Hague.

PM Rutte will also be meeting with Vietnamese women entrepreneurs of the Dutch Business Association for Việt Nam’s Ready to Export programme, after a brief cycling tour through Ba Đình District.

He will have official talks at the Government House with his counterpart Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and he will also have a meeting with the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Nguyễn Phú Trọng.

On the question of what advice he would recommend for Việt Nam in attempting to attract high tech businesses, the ambassador said Việt Nam should “make it easy for people to invest in Việt Nam,” citing the example of one-stop shops in Thailand and Malaysia for example, when investors want to invest in those countries, they can just go to these venues and they can arrange every procedure needed and they won’t need to go to one counter to the other one and back to one.

Also to develop the high tech sector, he said Việt Nam must make sure that there are enough well-qualified talents in this field and that good universities will cater to the needs of the industry.

He also expected that the issue of visa liberalisation will be improved through this visit.

The Netherlands is the biggest European investor in Việt Nam and the biggest export destination for goods from Việt Nam within the European Union, but the Netherlands is currently not enjoying the level of visa privileges that other major EU investors/markets have like Norway, Denmark, United Kingdom or France and Germany. — VNS