Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will pay an official visit to Vietnam from June 16-17, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (Source: Xinhua)

The visit will be made at invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung, the Ministry said.

Vietnam and the Netherlands set up diplomatic ties in April 1973. Their bilateral relations have increasingly developed in recent times.

Apart from the bilateral ties, economic links between the two sides have also seen strong growth, with two-way trade surging from 1.68 billion USD in 2009 to 3.2 billion USD in 2012.

The Netherlands is now running 160 investment projects worth 6 billion USD in registered capital in Vietnam.

In particular, their strategic partnership in climate change adaptation, the maritime sector, high-tech agriculture, water management and education has been promoted effectively.

In the years since ties were established, the Netherlands has been one of the leading EU countries to provide non-refundable aid for Vietnam in education, science-technology and the environment.