VIETNAM, June 27 - HÀ NỘI — Enterprises will be pioneers in promoting Việt Nam - Netherlands cooperation in the next 50 years.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trần Hồng Hà shared this thought while attending a roundtable discussion with Dutch and Vietnamese businesses, on Monday afternoon (local time), in The Hague (Netherlands).

The seminar was attended by nearly 30 large enterprises from the Netherlands and Việt Nam operating in the fields of seaport infrastructure, mining, dredging, maritime services, logistics, renewable energy, and agriculture.

The Netherlands is currently the second-largest trading partner of Việt Nam in Europe and the largest investor of the European Union (EU) in Việt Nam.

The two countries have identified five priority areas for development cooperation, including climate change adaptation and water management, agriculture, energy, marine economy and logistics services.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that Việt Nam and the Netherlands have similarities from beautiful nature, hardworking and friendly people, to being affected by climate change, and sea level rise.

Therefore, Việt Nam needs knowledge sharing and experience from the Dutch development model in disaster prevention, climate change adaptation, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and transition to a green econom, according to the deputy prime minister.

This is an opportunity for Dutch businesses to find and obtain effective investment and business projects in Việt Nam.

"Việt Nam is a developing country but has made strong commitments to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero, green transition, transition from fossil energy to renewable energy... with many projects pending,” the deputy prime minister clarified.

For example, in the field of renewable energy, Việt Nam has the potential to become a centre of renewable energy in the world, producing and exporting green fuels.

Besides, with the signing of 15 free trade agreements (FTAs) with all major economies in the world, investment projects of Dutch enterprises in Việt Nam also benefit from the FTAs, according to the deputy prime minister.

A number of Dutch corporations expressed interest in projects related to coastal protection; offshore sand exploitation as an alternative material for construction and transportation projects.

They also cared about dredging major navigational channels; building liquefied gas ports; producing hydrogen, ammonia; digitising the process of exchanging seaport information; and developing a closed livestock chain.

Dutch businesses wished to be facilitated when carrying out procedures applying for entry visas, and extending entry time.

They also hoped that the State would support domestic enterprises to meet standards and regulations as committed in FTAs to effectively take advantage of opportunities from these FTAs.

The deputy prime minister directly answered a number of questions about the orientation of developing offshore wind power centres associated with the green hydrogen and green ammonia production industry according to the Electricity Master Plan VIII; technology transfer to convert fossil energy sources to renewable energy; exploiting and using sea sand as building materials.

On the sidelines of the discussion, Vietnamese corporations such as Geleximco, Flamingo, Saigon Newport highly appreciated the rich experience, advanced technology and capacity of Dutch enterprises in exploiting sea sand; minimising the impact on the ecological environment when encroaching on the sea; dredging channels for seaport ships; seaport management model; technical co-operation, smart port construction, and human resource training.

The Deputy Prime Minister also suggested Dutch businesses directly work with Vietnamese businesses, as well as ministries and sectors to exchange, share frankly and propose business investment cooperation ideas to be deployed in the coming period, contributing to promoting economic-investment cooperation between the two countries. — VNS