Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen said Switzerland was one of the first countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam in October 1971. Over the past 50 years, the relationship between the two countries has witnessed many positive developments.
According to Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen, Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, always appreciates the support of the Swiss Government through Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects on poverty reduction, environmental protection, administrative reform, agriculture , education and training... and always creates conditions for Vietnam to enjoy preferential trade status.
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen had a meeting with Swiss Ambassador to Vietnam Thomas Gass on April 17.
Regarding the relationship between Ho Chi Minh City and Switzerland, Ho Chi Minh City is the economic - cultural - scientific and technological center of Vietnam, contributing 22% of GDP and 27% of the national budget. With much room for development, the city is also aiming to become the economic , financial, commercial, scientific - technological and cultural center of the region. Ho Chi Minh City is always actively implementing cooperation activities with Switzerland, especially in the economic field.
In 2022, two-way trade turnover reached nearly 190 million USD. Regarding investment, as of March 2023, Switzerland had 117 investment projects in Ho Chi Minh City with a total investment capital of more than 208 million USD, ranking 20th out of 119 countries and territories investing in Ho Chi Minh City.
Secretary Nguyen Van Nen said: "We hope to continue promoting cooperation with Switzerland in areas where Switzerland has strengths such as: digital transformation, finance, banking, insurance, smart cities, education and training, healthcare..." Through the Ambassador, Secretary Nguyen Van Nen invited Swiss companies to come and explore investment in Ho Chi Minh City in the above fields.
The Secretary hopes that the Ambassador will pay attention to promoting the exchange of delegations at all levels so that the two sides can exchange and cooperate more frequently. In particular, with its important role in the EFTA bloc (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), the Secretary hopes that Switzerland will work with Vietnam to strongly promote the early conclusion of negotiations and move towards the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the EFTA countries, creating a favorable framework for economic and trade development between the countries.
Swiss Ambassador Thomas Gass presented a souvenir to Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Nguyen Van Nen on April 17.
Also at the meeting, Ambassador Thomas Gass said that Switzerland considers the relationship between the two countries to be a high-quality partnership and a long-term relationship. According to the Ambassador, trade exchanges have been constantly growing in recent times, but the two sides can still develop further.
The Ambassador wishes to work with Ho Chi Minh City to help companies access cooperation in renewable energy and solar energy projects. The Ambassador said that Swiss companies are supporting the training of Vietnamese human resources, especially in the field of information technology. He hopes to bring more investment delegations to Vietnam.
The Ambassador appreciated Vietnam's impressive economic development and suggested adding Switzerland to the list of countries exempted from visa requirements to Vietnam. According to the Ambassador, Swiss President Alain Berset is scheduled to visit Vietnam next June.
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