An inter-ministerial mission headed by Minister of Planning andInvestment Vo Hong Phuc paid a visit to Luxembourg from Feb. 13-15to attend the Vietnam-Luxembourg Partnership Committee.

Duringthe visit, Minister Phuc had a working session with the General Directorof the Luxembourg development aid agency and paid a courtesy visitto Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.

Meeting withthe Luxembourg PM on Feb. 15, Minister Phuc expressed thanks to theLuxembourg government for its support to Vietnam over the pasttime.

PM Juncker praised cooperation between the two countriesin all fields and expressed his hope that those ties would be furtherdeveloped.

Earlier, at the meeting of the Vietnam-LuxembourgPartnership Committee, Minister Phuc and Marie Josee Jacobs, LuxembourgMinister of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs reviewedLuxembourg-funded projects in Vietnam and the cooperation strategybetween the two countries for the 2011-2015 period.

The twoministers shared the same views that Luxembourg-funded projects inVietnam effectively helped agricultural and rural development,healthcare, personnel training and poverty reduction, which areprioritised areas of the Vietnamese government.

In the 2011-2015period, the Luxembourg government pledged to provide 42 million EUR asnon-refundable aid to Vietnam to carry out projects prioritised bythe Vietnamese government.

While in Luxembourg , Minister Phucalso visited Astra company, a centre involving in global services insatellite management of Luxembourg , where he was briefed about Astracooperation programes with Vietnam in launching and managing Vinasattelecom satellites of Vietnam .

Talking with Vietnam NewsAgency (VNA) reporter, Minister Phuc spoke highly of cooperationprospect in all fields between Vietnam and Luxembourg, especially infinance and banking, which is a strength of Luxembourg./.