Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Trần Thanh Mẫn (right) receives First Vice President of the Belgian Senate Andries Gryffroy in Hà Nội on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — In its foreign policy, Việt Nam always treasures its comprehensive partnership and cooperation with the European Union (EU) as well as Belgium and other EU member nations.

That was the message from Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Trần Thanh Mẫn during a reception for visiting First Vice President of the Belgian Senate Andries Gryffroy in Hà Nội on Wednesday.

Mẫn highly appreciated Gryffroy's important contributions to promoting Việt Nam-Belgium and Việt Nam-EU relations, saying Việt Nam wishes to receive more support from Belgium in promoting stronger and more effective cooperative ties with the union.

He thanked the Belgian government, parliament and people for donating 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Việt Nam at the toughest time during the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2021.

The Vice Chairman hoped that Belgian parliamentarians would continue to prompt the Belgian Parliament and parliaments of EU member states to soon ratify the EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), and promote the effective implementation of the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), thus creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese goods and agricultural products to enter the EU market.

Mẫn suggested the two countries enhance cooperation, effectively implement bilateral mechanisms, maintain the exchange of all-level delegations, and closely coordinate at multilateral forums, especially the ASEAN-EU Summit, and foster the sharing of experience in law-making, supervision and decision-making.

Gryffroy said he is delighted at the fruitful development in the relationship between the two countries and their legislative bodies in the recent past.

He affirmed that the signing of the EVFTA and EVIPA is important to promoting the bilateral relations, bringing practical benefits to Vietnamese and European people.

Agreeing with the Vietnamese leader's proposals, Gryffroy expressed his hope that they will work closely to promote cooperation and the exchange of delegations between the legislative bodies of the two countries, helping to deepen the Việt Nam-Belgium relations. — VNS