Vietnam greatly values traditional ties with Switzerland
VOV.VN - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has affirmed Vietnam’s recognition of great importance to strengthening relations with Switzerland at a July 10 reception in Hanoi for visiting member of the Swiss Federal Council and head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research Guy Parmelin.
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| Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and head of the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research Guy Parmelin. |
Regarding the negotiations on the free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), he expressed his hope that the two sides would sign the document soon.
PM Phuc thanked Switzerland for its support to Vietnam’s bid to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure. He applauded the efforts by both sides in narrowing the gap in outstanding issues, and asked the EFTA to take a more practical approach.
He also asked the Swiss official to help increase investment from his country to Vietnam.
The Vietnamese Government is sparing no efforts to improve the investment and business environment to further facilitate the long-term operation by foreign enterprises, including Swiss ones, Phuc emphasized and thanked Switzerland for providing official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam in a wide range of fields.
The cabinet leader also spoke highly of Switzerland’s positive contributions to the maintenance of peace, security and development in the world, especially its continued voice for support of Vietnam and ASEAN’s just stance on settling disputes on the East Sea by peaceful means, on the basis of respect for the international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).