Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Vu Quang Anh hosted a ceremony to mark the 73rd Vietnamese National Day in Brussels on September 6.

The event saw Belgian President of the Chamber of Representatives Siegfried Bracke, Deputy Foreign Minister Dirk Achten, foreign diplomatic corps, and many Vietnamese people living in Belgium.

The ambassador briefed his guests on Vietnam’s development and international integration over the past years and spoke highly of the Vietnam-Belgium relations, which have enjoyed strong growth in recent years. This year, the two countries are celebrating the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, he said.

Ambassador Anh, also head of the Vietnamese Mission to the European Union, moved on to highlight the ties between Vietnam and the EU, adding that strengthening the comprehensive partnership with the Union has been a key pillar in Vietnam’s foreign policy and that the country treasures its sound relations with the EU and its member states.

The EU is Vietnam’s second largest trade partner with the bilateral trade reaching 47.6 billion EUR last year – a figure which is expect to rise to more than 50 billion EUR in 2018. The EU is also the fifth biggest investor of Vietnam, injecting more than 44 billion EUR into the country, with the two sides finalising negotiations on the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), he said.

Deputy FM Dirk Achten, for his part, said he hopes Vietnam and Belgium will ink a deal on strategic partnership in agriculture this year or early next year at the latest. The deal will include cooperation in agricultural technology development, food safety, food processing, and climate change response.

Achten affirmed that Belgium backs Vietnam in the signing of the EVFTA and was delighted at the enhanced collaboration in education and science between the two countries. He also looked forward to Vietnam and Belgium fostering multilateral activities together in the United Nations meetings.

The Embassy of Vietnam in Bangladesh has also held a special event to celebrate the Vietnamese National Day and the 45th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations in Dhaka. It was attended by Bangladeshi Minister of Commerce Tofail Ahmed, Minister of Social Welfare and Chairman of the Workers Party Rashed Khan Menon, and others.

Vietnamese Ambassador Tran Van Khoa gave his guests an overview of Vietnam’s recent socio-economic development and the steps made by the two countries, while Minister of Commerce Tofail Ahmed called on the business societies of the two sides to bolster partnership and expand trade and investment.

At the event, performers from Vietnam brought the practices of the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms worship to the Bangladeshi audience for the first time.

The worship is based on an ancient system of beliefs in the incarnation of various deities channeled through mediums, and believed to provide good health and prosperity. The ceremony showcased rites and art performances honouring the unique values of the Mother Goddesses’ cultural and historical tradition.

It was officially recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.

South Korean soprano Cho Hae Ryong will perform songs by Belgian composers Lodewijk Mortelmans and Joseph Jongen at a concert on July 19 at the Opera House to mark 45 years of establishing diplomatic relations between Việt Nam and Belgium. File Photo courtesy of HBSO

The concert will open with the song Lied of Mignon composed by Belgian conductor Lodewijk Mortelmans with lyrics from the poem Mignon, Kennst du das Land (Mignon, Do You Know the Land) by German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

It will be followed by two excerpts Release and Les Langues de Feu (The Fire of Languages) from Cinq Melodies (Five Melodies), Op 57 by Belgian composer and music educator Joseph Jongen.

The songs will be performed by South Korean soprano Cho Hae Ryong, a graduate of Novosibirsk State Conservatory in Russia.

Cho is a lecturer of vocal studies at the HCM City Conservatory of Music.

Clarinetist Hoàng Ngọc Quân Anh, a new graduate of Maastricht Academy of Music in the Netherlands, will continue the performance with Italian composer Gioachino Rossini’s Introduction, Theme and Variations for the Clarinet and Orchestra.

The second part of the night will feature Symphony No 8 in F Major, op 93 composed by Beethoven in 1892. The four-movement symphony premiered in Vienna in 1814.

The performance will feature HBSO’s symphony orchestra, led by Belgian conductor Daniel Gazon.

Gazon, born in 1955, completed his studies in trumpet and double bass in 1977, and began conducting a year later. He graduated from the International Seminar in Weimar, Germany and from Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

Since 1985, he has worked with internationally acclaimed conductors like Seiji Ozawa and Sergiu Celibidache, and leading orchestras in Belgium, Poland, Slovakia and other European countries.

He has premiered contemporary works by 20th century composers, including Magnus Lindberg from Finland, Claude Vivier from Canada, and Luc Van Hove of Belgium.

Gazon has been invited to perform at big contemporary music festivals such as the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM)’s World Music Days Festival, Melos-Ethos International Festival of Contemporary Music, and Warsaw Autumn Festival.

He has given master classes in conducting at conservatories in Belgium, Sloviakia, Sweden and Italy.

The concert will begin at 8pm at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue’s box office and at www.ticketbox.vn.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh (second right) and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn met in Hà Nội yesterday.

Photo Lâm Khánh

Deputy PM Minh thanked Luxembourg for its strong commitments to development cooperation programmes in Việt Nam and welcomed the establishment of Luxembourg’s Honourary Consulate offices in Hà Nội and HCM City, which he said, has reflected the country’s desire to strengthen bilateral ties.

He asked for the early organisation of the 10th meeting of the Việt Nam – Luxembourg Partnership Committee in 2018 in the European country to review the implementation of Luxembourg-funded projects and programmes for the 2016-20 period.

The host hoped that investors from Luxembourg would diversify investment in the fields of construction, food processing and high-tech media in Việt Nam, and the European nation would make it easier for Vietnamese goods to enter the country and the European Union.

Asselborn, for his part, affirmed that the Luxembourg government wants to develop collaboration with Việt Nam and considers Việt Nam a priority partner in development cooperation in Asia.

The two sides discussed measures to step up bilateral ties such as facilitating all-level visits and implementing the framework agreement on cooperation signed in November 2017. They identified cooperation fields in the new period to effectively use non-refundable aid provided by the Luxembourg Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for climate change-related projects in Việt Nam.

On regional and global issues of shared concern, they pledged to work closely together at regional and global forums.

The Luxembourg side affirmed support for Việt Nam to reinforce ties with the EU and its willingness to push for the EU’s early approval of the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement.

Luxembourg shared Việt Nam’s stance on the East Sea issue that maritime freedom must be respected everywhere and disputes need to be settled by peaceful means in line with international law, stressing that ensuring maritime and aviation security and safety in the region is not only for the interest of regional countries but also the common interest of the global community.

Asselborn expressed support for denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula to contribute to peace, stability and security in the region.

Following the talks, Deputy PM Minh received two honourary consuls of Luxembourg in Hà Nội and HCM City.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn is on an official visit to Việt Nam on June 14 and 15 at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh. — VNS

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (fourth right) receives Jean Asselborn, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg in Hà Nội on Thursday.

Photo Thống Nhất

PM Phúc welcomed the signing of a framework agreement on co-operation between the two governments, saying it creates a co-operation framework suitable for the new situation, especially in co-operation for development and climate change response support.

He spoke highly of Luxembourg as the fifth biggest European Union investor in Việt Nam and expressed his hope that the two countries will work to facilitate their businesses to meet and partner in the fields of finance-banking, tourism and green growth.

The two countries should accelerate the completion of all remaining issues of the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) and launch relevant procedures to sign the Free Trade Agreement on the sidelines of the upcoming 12th ASEM, the leader said.

Phúc expected that the European country will continue aiding Việt Nam in responding to climate change, and speed up co-operation with the country in building and developing the financial and banking markets as it has a lot of experience and has carried out a number of efficient co-operative programmes with Việt Nam in the field.

Minister Asselborn said Luxembourg’s maintenance of official development assistance for Việt Nam over the past 25 years showed its respect to developing the ties with Việt Nam.

He expressed his delight at the growing trade value between the two countries and pledged that his country will work together with Việt Nam to raise the value.

He spoke highly of PM Phúc’s speech relating to environmental protection at the recent G7 Outreach Summit and offered the sharing of his country’s experience in green bond model for application in Việt Nam.

He expected that the EU and Việt Nam will soon sign their free trade agreement to facilitate the stronger co-operation between Việt Nam and other EU members in the future.