At COP15, PM has bilateral meeting with Dutch counterpart

VGP – In the third working day at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen, Denmark, Vietnamese PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng had a meeting with PM Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands.

December 18, 2009 6:14 PM GMT+7

PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng (L) shakes hands with Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenende in their meeting on the sideline of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen, December 18, 2009 – Photo: VGP/Nhật Bắc

The Vietnamese praised the Netherlands as one of the biggest European investor and trade partners of Việt Nam. He quoted the two-way trade value of over US $1 billion in the first seven months of 2009 as a positive indicator of the effective bilateral economic cooperation.

PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng took the case to thank the Dutch Government for its uninterrupted provision of ODA for Việt Nam.

He asked the Dutch counterpart to dispatch experts of environment protection and water management to help Việt Nam combat with climate change and sea level rise.

“Your country has valuable experience of coping with sea level rise and building sea dykes. I hope that I will have chances to visit the sea dyke system in the Netherlands and share experience of water management and climate change combat when I visit your country on the occasion of the upcoming 8^th ASEM Summit,” said PM Dũng.

Delegations of the Vietnamese and Dutch governments hold meeting on the sideline of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen, December 18, 2009 – Photo: VGP/Nhật Bắc

Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenende showed his admiration to Việt Nam’s efforts in mitigating negative impacts of the global economic downturn.

He stated that the Netherlands is ready to share its experience of building sea dykes with Việt Nam. He asked PM Dũng to send the Minister of Environment, Minister of Science to the Netherlands for specific plans in this field.

PM Jan Peter Balkenende also underlined his willingness to expand bilateral cooperation with Việt Nam in all fields, especially water management, dyke construction, agriculture, and sea transport.

By Hồng Hạnh