President welcomes Queen of the Netherlands

Jun 01, 2017 | 02:56 PM GMT+7

President Tran Dai Quang yesterday welcomed Queen of the Netherlands Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, who is on a working visit to Viet Nam.

President welcomes Queen of the Netherlands
President Tran Dai Quang (right) receives Queen of the Netherlands Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development in Ha Noi. — VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang

President Quang said he is delighted to see relations between Viet Nam and the UN in general and the Netherlands in particular develop positively in many fields.

The Strategic Partnership on Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management (2010) and the Strategic Partnership on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security (2014) are vivid evidence of the current fruitful relationship between Viet Nam and the Netherlands, he elaborated.

President Quang took the occasion to thank Queen Máxima for her interest in microfinance in Viet Nam through her visit to the country in 2011. He spoke highly of the Queen’s efforts to enhance inclusive finance for developing nations, and he praised her on-going visits to study and share experience in promoting inclusive finance, as Viet Nam has just embarked on this sphere.

Thanks to the implementation of policies and activities related to inclusive finance, such as microfinance development, social security and credit for agriculture and rural areas, Viet Nam has reaped a wide range of achievements in socio-economic development and poverty reduction that have been recognised by the international community, he noted.

The State leader believes that inclusive finance will be a useful tool to effectively mobilise resources, contributing to Viet Nam’s socio-economic development and sustainable growth. In early 2017, the Government assigned the State Bank of Viet Nam to build and promulgate a national inclusive finance strategy for 2020.

In this spirit, President Quang suggested Queen Máxima, in her capacity as a representative of the Netherlands and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, mobilise financial and technical resources from the UN and other international organisations to assist Viet Nam’s strategy and share experience with the country.

Queen Máxima congratulated Viet Nam on its achievements in hunger elimination, poverty reduction and socio-economic development over the past 30 years, as well as its outcomes in deploying inclusive finance.

She said inclusive finance will be a tool to effectively mobilise resources, contribute to Viet Nam’s sustainable socio-economic development and help people get easier access to official finance and banking services.

The Queen also affirmed that the Netherlands is willing to share experience and co-operate with Viet Nam in the field of inclusive finance.

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on the same day held meeting with Queen Maxima