Strengthening maritime and waterway cooperation between Vietnam and the Kingdom of Belgium

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Xuan Sang had a working session with Ms. Cieltje Van Anchter, Minister in charge of Brussels and Communications of the Flanders Region (Kingdom of Belgium) on enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two countries - Photo: VGP

On March 31, Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Xuan Sang had a working session with Ms. Cieltje Van Anchter, Minister in charge of Brussels and Communications of the Flanders Region (Kingdom of Belgium) on strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Speaking at the meeting, Ms. Cieltje Van Anchter, Minister in charge of Brussels and Communications of the Flanders Region, expressed her joy at the cooperative efforts of the Kingdom of Belgium and Vietnam in recent times.

According to Ms. Van Anchter, seaports play an important role in the economies of the two countries, not only in connecting the capital region with other regions, but also in digitalization efforts and increasing the use of multimodal transport. Currently, Belgian seaports are focusing on promoting sustainable transport activities through providing multimodal transport activities, serving the transport of goods, using green energy vehicles, aiming at sustainable, safe and efficient logistics.

Within the framework of cooperation between the Belgian Government and the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) over the past years, corporations have made efforts to commit and work alongside Vietnam to promote infrastructure and enhance logistics activities in various fields.

Emphasizing the importance of the working session between the two ministries in the context of Vietnam and Belgium celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1973-2023), Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Xuan Sang affirmed that the Vietnamese Government attaches great importance to strengthening increasingly deep, substantive and effective relations with the Kingdom of Belgium in recent times. Belgium has always been among Vietnam's leading trade partners in the EU and Vietnam has always been Belgium's largest trade partner in ASEAN with a total two-way turnover of more than 5 billion USD in 2024.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Xuan Sang affirmed that the Vietnamese Government attaches great importance to strengthening increasingly deep, substantive and effective relations with the Kingdom of Belgium.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Xuan Sang, with the potential and development needs of both sides, this cooperation is even more important. Currently, the capacity of Vietnam's seaports is about 800 million tons/year and by 2030, the capacity is expected to reach about 1.4 billion tons/year. Recently, the Government has strived for a GDP growth rate of 8% in 2025 and will grow by double digits in the coming time. Therefore, the Deputy Minister said that it will be necessary to continue adjusting the planning in the coming time.

Vietnam is planning to develop many new ports.

To meet the growth demand, Vietnam is planning to develop many new ports. In particular, the Northern region focuses on Hai Phong seaport, completing 18 berths in Lach Huyen and Nam Do Son, meeting the size of ships of about 200,000 tons.

The Central region has planned a seaport in Da Nang to be able to receive ships up to 150,000 DWT.

The Southern region focuses on the Can Gio international transit port in Ho Chi Minh City. In the Ba Ria-Vung Tau region, the Cai Mep Ha and Cai Mep Ha downstream ports are also planned with a total port length of about 25km, accommodating ships of 200,000 DWT - 250,000 DWT.

The Office of the President and Foreign Affairs of the Region of Flanders and the Vietnam Maritime and Waterways Administration signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation, promoting bilateral activities in the field of maritime and waterways.

The leaders of the Ministry of Construction recommended that the Government of Flanders continue to support the Vietnam Maritime and Waterways Administration in sharing information, expertise and transferring technology for construction and maintenance of maritime and waterway infrastructure; operating and exploiting seaports and waterway ports, enhancing connections between seaports and waterway ports; enhancing connections between Flanders seaports and deep-water ports of Vietnam, recommending policies to promote Vietnam's deep-water ports to become transit hubs for neighboring countries.

At the same time, strengthen the application of digital transformation and efficient use of energy to reduce emissions towards developing green ports and green waterway-maritime transport corridors.

Within the framework of the working session, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Office of the President and Foreign Affairs of the Flanders Region and the Vietnam Maritime and Waterways Administration was also signed. This will create momentum to promote bilateral cooperation activities in the maritime and waterway sectors, in line with the interests of Vietnam and the strengths of Flanders, the Kingdom of Belgium, contributing to promoting socio-economic development.

Phan Trang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/tang-cuong-hop-tac-hang-hai-duong-thuy-viet-nam-vuong-quoc-bi-102250331150540923.htm