Vietnam - Sweden constantly cultivate and develop bilateral relations

VicePresident Vo Thi Anh Xuan received Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Johan Ndisi on October 15, 2024. (Photo: Pham Kien/VNA)

From November 10-13, 2024, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan will make an official visit to the Kingdom of Sweden.

On this occasion, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden Tran Van Tuan gave an interview to the press about the above important event.

Assessing the development of Vietnam-Sweden relations in recent times, Ambassador Tran Van Tuan said that Vietnam and Sweden have a long-standing and quite special traditional friendship and cooperation relationship. Sweden was the first Western country to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1969.

For the Vietnamese people, talking about Sweden means talking about the wholehearted and righteous help that the Swedish people have always given to the Vietnamese people in the struggle for independence, freedom, peace and national reunification, as well as in the cause of building, rebuilding and developing the country later.

Over the past 55 years, the two countries have continuously built, nurtured and developed an increasingly strong and in-depth bilateral relationship, achieving proud achievements in many fields.

Politically, the two countries have always had political trust and deep friendship with each other. Sweden considers Vietnam an important partner in Southeast Asia, and Vietnam also always considers Sweden a good friend and reliable partner in the Nordic region.

Political consultations and delegation exchanges at all levels, especially at high levels, take place regularly, creating important impetus to promote the traditional relationship to continue developing in all fields such as politics, economics, trade, investment, science-technology, culture, education, health, etc.

The two sides have signed 107 agreements and 12 bilateral agreements, of which 42 are currently in effect, creating an important foundation and basis for further promoting substantive cooperation in the new era, the era of science, technology and sustainable development.

Regarding development assistance, Sweden is one of the countries providing large ODA aid to Vietnam with a total capital of 3.46 billion USD as of 2013.

This capital has been effectively used by Vietnam to invest in many fields, actively contributing to the cause of hunger eradication and poverty reduction and socio-economic development of the country.

Sweden also helps Vietnam train experts and engineers in many fields such as agriculture, forestry, healthcare, electricity, journalism, communications, etc.

Many generations of Swedish experts have come to Vietnam to work and contribute their intelligence and efforts to the development of Vietnam.

Bilateral trade relations have made very encouraging progress. In 2023, the total import-export turnover between the two sides reached approximately 1.3 billion USD.

However, in just 8 months of 2024, this figure reached 966.77 million USD, an increase of 11% over the same period last year.

Sweden is currently Vietnam's largest trading partner in Northern Europe, and conversely, Vietnam is Sweden's largest import partner in Southeast Asia.

Regarding investment cooperation, as of June 2024, Sweden has 111 investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 742.65 million USD, ranking 29th out of 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

In March 2024, a delegation of 100 large Nordic enterprises, of which about 40% were from Sweden, visited Vietnam, showing great interest of Swedish businesses in Vietnam's investment environment.

On the other hand, Vietnam also had its first investment project in Sweden with a total investment capital from 2019 to present reaching about 5.2 million USD.

Vietnam's largest software technology enterprise, FPT Corporation, has also officially opened a representative office in Sweden, marking a new and very positive step in cooperation in the field of software technology between the two countries.

In terms of culture and education, the two countries have also made many strides in bilateral cooperation in recent times.

Recently, many large-scale and impressive cultural events have been held in both countries to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Sweden relations, giving people of the two countries more opportunities to exchange, share cultural values ​​and strengthen solidarity and friendship.

Assessing the purpose, significance and importance of the upcoming official visit to Sweden by Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan, Ambassador Tran Van Tuan affirmed that the official visit to Sweden by our Vice President this time is of great significance as it takes place on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Sweden diplomatic relations (1969-2024).

Firstly, this is the first visit of a Vietnamese Vice President to Sweden. Therefore, the visit will contribute to consolidating and deepening the traditional friendship between the two countries.

During the program, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan will have meetings with the highest leaders of the Swedish Parliament and Government; and meet Swedish experts who have close relations with Vietnam. A number of memorandums of understanding on cooperation between ministries and sectors of the two countries will also be signed.

The above activities will contribute to enhancing understanding and mutual trust between the leaders of the two countries, tightening the emotional ties between the people of Vietnam and Sweden, as well as promoting the increasingly substantive cooperation between the two countries.

Second, the visit contributes to affirming Vietnam's commitment to creating a stable and favorable environment for investment and business activities of Swedish enterprises in Vietnam.

During the program, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan will attend the Vietnam-Sweden Business Roundtable on digital transformation and sustainable development. These are areas in which Vietnam is currently in great need of international cooperation, while Sweden has a lot of development experience.

The visit is expected to bring new impetus to promote cooperation between businesses of the two countries in the above fields.

Notably, during this visit, the two countries are expected to announce the opening of a sea route connecting directly between Vung Tau Port (Vietnam) and Goteborg Port (Sweden). This will be a favorable condition to further enhance trade exchange between the two countries in the coming time.

Third, the visit is also an opportunity for the leaders of our Party and State to visit and encourage overseas Vietnamese living in Sweden.

The Vietnamese community in Sweden currently has about 22,000 people, many of whom are engineers, businessmen, intellectuals, workers... working for large Swedish agencies, businesses, and economic groups.

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan's meeting with the Vietnamese community in the area will contribute to affirming the consistent policy of the Party and State of always considering the Vietnamese community abroad as an inseparable part of the Vietnamese nation, while always encouraging and creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese people abroad in general, and in Sweden in particular, to contribute to building the homeland and the country./.

Source: https://dangcongsan.vn/doi-ngoai/viet-nam-thuy-dien-khong-ngung-vun-dap-phat-trien-quan-he-song-phuong-682765.html