Rais Yves Leterme, Belgium’s foreign minister, starts a two-day visit to Vietnam Tuesday to boost bilateral and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Leterme will meet with Vietnamese officials to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in several sectors including politics, economics, and trade and investment, as well as discuss regional and global issues that are of interest to both sides.

Vietnam is currently the only Asian country receiving preferential development aid from the Belgian government for the 2007-2010 period, in the amount of 32 million euro (US$45 million).

Last year, two-way trade reached nearly $1.4 billion and Belgium is now Vietnam’s fourth largest export market among EU countries.

Reported by Huong Giang