The Swiss delegation is set to hold official meetings with Vietnamese leaders, the Minister of Industry and Trade, with Hai Phong City’s authorities, as well as visits to projects financed by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), meetings with the Swiss community in Hanoi and representatives of Swiss companies in Vietnam.
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President of the National Council of Switzerland Martin Candinas. — VNA/VNS Photo |
The President of the National Council of Switzerland Martin Candinas will pay an official visit to Vietnam from June 27-30 at the invitation of National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, according to an announcement from the Vietnamese NA Committee for External Relations.
During this visit, the Swiss delegation is set to hold official meetings with Vietnamese leaders, the Minister of Industry and Trade, with Hai Phong City’s authorities, as well as visits to projects financed by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), meetings with the Swiss community in Hanoi and representatives of Swiss companies in Vietnam.
This high-ranking visit will be an outstanding opportunity to further strengthen Switzerland’s partnership with Vietnam as well as to reinforce the excellent ties between the two parliaments.
During the visit, President Martin Candinas and the Swiss delegation will gain insight into the opportunities and energy of Vietnam, collect information about the “Vietnamese economic boom” and on the effectiveness of Swiss development cooperation in this country in order to inform the Swiss Parliament and public, according to a notice from the Swiss Embassy in Hanoi.
Switzerland established its diplomatic relations with Vietnam on October 11, 1971, and opened its first Embassy in 1973.
Relations between Vietnam and Switzerland have developed strongly over the past 50 years, extending beyond the political and the multilateral sphere to cover technical and economic cooperation, trade and investment, research and science, culture, tourism and people to people contacts.
In addition to high-level contacts, trade and investment relations have also developed. Swiss direct investment in Vietnam in 2022 amounted to more than VND51 trillion (ranking 21st among foreign investors and among the largest European ones in Vietnam). More than 100 Swiss companies are active in Vietnam.
The Swiss government has pursued technical and economic cooperation with Vietnam since 1991 and has disbursed more than CHF600 million (nearly VND15 trillion) in support of Vietnam’s socio-economic development.
Vietnam is currently one of Switzerland's priority countries for economic development cooperation and will receive CHF70 million for 2021-2024 under a technical assistance program.
Starting in 2020, Switzerland and Vietnam provide funding through a partnership with NAFOSTED to expand and strengthen Vietnamese-Swiss research cooperation; and a second one is to be launched in autumn 2023. Negotiations on a free trade agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), of which Switzerland is a member, and Vietnam have been under way since 2012 and are currently one of the key issues on which both countries are working.
