On February 21st, at the Ministry Head office, Deputy Minister Le Van Thanh had a cordial meeting with Mr. Karl Van DEN BOSCHE, the Kingdom of Belgium’s Ambassador to Vietnam. Attending the meeting were leadership representatives from the Department of International Cooperation, Department of Legal Affairs, Department of Employment, and Department of Industrial Relationship and Wages.
At the meeting, Deputy Minister Le Van Thanh highly appreciated the cooperation between Vietnam and Belgium in the fields of economy, socio-political issues, defense and security. Through the cooperation process, the relationship between the two countries has increasingly developed, especially, the cooperation in the field of labour and social affairs.
The Deputy Minister said that Vietnam defined that economic development must always go hand in hand with social development. In the field of labour and employment, Vietnam has been interested in developing a flexible and sustainable labour market.
In 2019, Vietnam passed the Labour Code, which updated international and modern labour standards. At the same time, ratify many conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), participate in many new-generation free trade agreements, update advanced labour standards to develop a better labour market, and improve the role of workers and workers' representative organizations in dialogue and collective bargaining.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Belgium (1973-2023), the Deputy Minister wished to strengthen cooperation between the two countries to affirm Vietnam's role in the international arena, especially promoting international cooperation relations in social security.
On the basis of the good relationship between Vietnam and the Kingdom of Belgium which is increasingly strengthened, Deputy Minister Le Van Thanh hopes that in the near future, the two sides will agree to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between Vietnam and Belgium on social security, including vocational training, skilled labour exchange, social insurance, social assistance, etc.
Emphasizing Vietnam's advantages in growing agricultural crops such as cocoa, and coffee, the Deputy Minister wished that Belgium and Europe would support Vietnam in farming and processing agricultural products, to turn those agricultural products into valuable products in the market.
Ambassador Karl Van DEN BOSCHE highly appreciated the trusting, good relationship, close coordination, and mutual support in the international arena between the two countries; congratulate the achievements that Vietnam in general, and the Ministry of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs, in particular, have achieved in recent years.
The Ambassador affirmed that in his position, he will continue to support and share with Vietnam the Belgium's experiences in social security, contributing to strengthening the development of the good cooperation relationship between the two countries.