Overseas Vietnamese in Belgium have established the General Association of Vietnamese in Belgium (GAVB) with a view to promoting solidarity among overseas Vietnamese in the country and boosting contributions to their homeland. The organization, with 12 founding members, was formed on Saturday, November 16. It has a three-member executive board headed by chairman Huynh Cong My. Addressing the GAVB’s debut ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Pham Sanh Chau applauded the establishment of the general association, and hoped that it will link the OVs with people in the homeland and contribute to strengthening the bilateral ties between Vietnam and Belgium.

The GAVB, with its motto being solidarity, is planning a wide range of activities in the time ahead, including celebrations of the 2014 Lunar New Year. Earlier at a meeting with Vietnamese residents and students in Belgium on October 1, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Thanh Son reiterated the Vietnamese Party and State’s policies that consider the overseas Vietnamese an integral part of the Vietnamese nation. Son also briefed the Vietnamese community on the country’s socio-economic situation and called on them to continue contributing to the homeland.

Currently, about 13,000 Vietnamese people are living and working in Belgium. Two countries established diplomatic relations on March 22, 1973.