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Secretary of HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen (R) has a meeting with new Ambassador of Switzerland to Vietnam Thomas Gass (Photo: SGGP) |
Yesterday afternoon, Secretary Nen had a meeting with new Ambassador of Switzerland to Vietnam Thomas Gass who came to greet him on the occasion of receiving his term in Vietnam.
At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Nen affirmed that Vietnam-Switzerland relations are making good progress adding that Switzerland is one of the first countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1971. Switzerland and the Southeast Asian country have witnessed many positive developments over the past 50 years.
Mr. Nen said that Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, always appreciates the support of the Swiss Government through ODA projects on poverty reduction, environmental protection, administrative reform, agriculture, education and training.
Moreover, Switzerland always creates favorable conditions for Vietnam to enjoy preferential trade regulations. In particular, during the recent Covid-19 epidemic, Switzerland has actively supported Vietnam in epidemic prevention.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, Ho Chi Minh City is aiming to become the economic, financial, commercial, scientific-technological and cultural center of the region. The southern metropolis has implemented cooperation activities with Switzerland, especially in the economic field. At the same time, he said that the city always wants to promote cooperation with Switzerland in the fields where Switzerland has strengths and expects Swiss companies to come to the southern largest city to explore and pour investment in.
As Switzerland has an important role in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) including Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, Secretary Nguyen Van Nen hoped that Switzerland would join Vietnam in strongly promoting, soon concluding the negotiations and moving towards the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and EFTA countries, creating a favorable framework for economic and trade development between countries.
Thanking the leader of Ho Chi Minh City for spending time receiving the delegation, Ambassador Thomas Gass said that Switzerland considers the relationship between the two countries as a long-term and high-quality partnership. Ambassador Thomas Gass promised to bring more groups of investors to Vietnam to promote cooperation between the two sides in the fields of mutual interest.
Ambassador Thomas Gass also informed that President of National Council Martin Candinas will pay a visit to Vietnam in June.
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Ambassador Thomas Gass gives a gift to Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Phan Van Mai (Photo: SGGP) |
In the afternoon of the same day, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Phan Van Mai received Ambassador Thomas Gass.
Appreciating the developing relationship between Vietnam and Switzerland, Mr. Phan Van Mai said that the city is paying attention to the development of a green economy, circular economy, environmentally friendly industry, renewable energy, and science-technology.
He expressed his hope that Ambassador Thomas Gass would take heed of support to move towards more specific cooperation plans in the coming time through bilateral cooperation in human resource training from institutes and universities.
Mr. Phan Van Mai affirmed that the city has the responsibility to create the best conditions for Swiss businesses operating in the city. He promised that city leaders will help remove the issues such as granting work permits to foreign experts that the ambassador and the Swiss business community are paying attention to.
Appreciating the potential of Ho Chi Minh City, Ambassador Thomas Gass affirmed that the city's development is a good opportunity to further promote the cooperation relationship between Switzerland and the city. Switzerland is willing to cooperate, support and share experiences with the city to solve challenging issues in the development process, contributing to further promoting the growing Swiss-Vietnamese cooperation relationship, and bringing practical benefits to the two countries.
