Ambassador highlights potential for enhancement of Vietnam- Sweden ties
VOV.VN - There remains ample room for the nation and Sweden to boost ties in a multitude of fields, especially those of each other’s strength and demand, Vietnamese Ambassador to Sweden Tran Van Tuan said in a recent media interview given on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of both nations’ diplomatic relations.
The Vietnamese diplomat pointed out that the high collaboration potential for climate change response and environmental protection, particularly as Sweden is a world leader in the field and Vietnam one of the countries hardest hit by climate change.
Science-technology is also viewed as a promising area for bilateral linkages, especially in the fields where the Scandinavian nation has plenty of experience in such as carbon capture technology and waste treatment, digital transformation, energy transformation, financial management, and public health care.
Both sides boast huge potential for labour, trade, and investment partnerships, Ambassador Tuan said, while explaining that with a population of about 100 million, a stable political situation, and impressive growth rate, Vietnam represents an attractive and promising market for Swedish businesses.
During a meeting held with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the sidelines of the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in the UAE, Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson greatly valued the Swedish stance on peaceful settlement of international disputes. The leader went on to express his confidence that his country will continue to make positive contributions to enhancing ASEAN’s central role whilst dealing with common problems faced by the international community.
Ambassador Tuan said he believes that with high mutual political trust, Vietnam and Sweden will continue to effectively co-ordinate at multilateral forums, especially in coping with global issues.
Highlighting achievements of joint co-operation over the past 55 years, Ambassador Tuan said that both countries have enjoyed fruitful partnership across a variety of areas.
Along with strong political trust and friendship, Sweden and Vietnam share fruitful economic ties, he said, noting that Sweden was the biggest North European provider of non-refundable aid to Vietnam in the 1967 to 2013 period. Since late 2013, the two sides have switched their relations to win-win partnership.
Two-way trade reached US$1.5 billion in 2022 and US$1.2 billion during the first 11 months of 2023, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from Statistics Sweden (SCB) released in December, 2023, indicates that Sweden was the country’s largest trading partner in North Europe, whilst the Vietnamese side was Sweden's largest import partner in Southeast Asia.
Moreover, the Scandinavian nation has helped Vietnam to train many experts and engineers in the fields of forestry, paper, energy, biology, medicine, and journalism in the past through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Meanwhile, cultural and art exchange activities between the two sides have also been strengthened.
However, Ambassador Tuan stated that the joint partnership in some areas has been modest, adding that as of June, 2023, Swedish firms had poured US$680.49 million into the Vietnamese market.
The diplomat said that moving forward, the Vietnamese Embassy in Sweden will launch a broad array of activities aimed at ramping up bilateral co-operation in politics, diplomacy, trade, investment, and science and technology.
On the occasion of the 55th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties, the Embassy will hold some activities to promote Vietnamese culture, trade, and tourism in Sweden, while also assisting the signing of co-operation agreements between agencies and offering favourable conditions for both sides’ businesses to explore each other’s market.
Alongside assisting Vietnamese and Swedish firms to intensify import-export activities between the two countries, the Embassy will provide support to Sweden in opening its door for highly-qualified Vietnamese workers to work in the European country, especially in the fields of information technology, education, health care, and elderly care.
The Embassy is in the process of working towards speed up the opening of a direct air route and a direct maritime route between the two countries, which will propel cultural diplomacy, people diplomacy, and education-training co-operation forward.
