AMSTERDAM: Vietnam and the Netherlands have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation on civil aviation between the two countries, opening up opportunities for collaboration, investment and business in the field as well as in other branches of transport.
Representatives from the Vietnam Civil Aviation Administration and the Netherlands signed the MoU in Hanoi on October 24, in the presence of Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat, Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade of the Netherlands Marten van den Berg and Ambassador of the Netherlands in Vietnam Nienke Trooster,
At the ceremony, the two sides exchanged views on issues of mutual concern about the potential for development cooperation, such as maritime transport, port management, shipbuilding and civil aviation.
Deputy Minister Nhat said that Vietnam was among the seven countries with the fastest pace of aviation development in the world and that the potential for the development of aviation in Vietnam was enormous. The transport official informed the Dutch side of the Government of Vietnam’s project of building Long Thanh International Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai, which is to have a capacity of up to 100 million passengers a year.
The Ministry of Transport welcomed Dutch firms participating and investing in the international airport and continuing to support Vietnam in training aviation personnel, including flight control and State management in civil aviation, the deputy minister stressed.
Praising the experience of the Dutch with devising policies on port development, Nhat said Vietnam had sent several missions to the Netherlands to study the hosts’ port authority model.
Regarding shipbuilding, according to Nhat, Vietnam is on track to develop the industry and is willing to learn from the Netherlands’ experience. He mentioned an example of effective cooperation between the two countries in this field, namely the joint venture Damen–Song Cam Shipyard in Hai Phong, and urged the Netherlands to pay more attention to the plant’s operations.
