National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân meets with Vietnamese community and officials of the Vietnamese Embassy in The Hague. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

THE HAGUE — National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân has lauded the contributions of the 20,000-strong Vietnamese community in the Netherlands, especially the Vietnamese Association in The Hague, to promoting Việt Nam’s image to the world and social movements at home.

Meeting officials of the Vietnamese community and officials of the Vietnamese Embassy in the European country on March 26, the top legislator noted that the association had worked with the Vietnamese Embassy to organise Vietnamese classes in the country since late 2017, promoting national culture and traditions.
She affirmed the Party and State’s policy of considering overseas Vietnamese communities an inseparable part of the nation, noting that many policies had been designed to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese people abroad to return home and seek business opportunities, especially in science and technology. 
A revised Law on Technology Transfer had been issued, aiming to encourage more technology transfer to Vietnam, she noted. 
She also praised the efforts of the Vietnamese Embassy in the Netherlands in implementing tasks assigned by the Party and State, pledging that the NA would create optimal conditions for the embassy to operate efficiently. 
She expressed delight at the sound friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the Netherlands over the past 45 years, as well as strengthened bilateral political trust. 
Links in climate change response, water management, sustainable agriculture and food security had been fruitful, she added. 
The Netherlands has become the largest export market of Việt Nam in the EU. Two-way trade in 2017 exceeded US$7.7 billion, while the Netherlands ranks 11th out of 126 foreign investors in Vietnam with total investment of US$8.17 billion.— VNS