Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha at the talks (Photo: VNA) Ha made the suggestion during his talks with Swiss Federal Councillor for Economic Affairs, Education and Research of Switzerland Guy Parmelin on January 16, on the occasion of his attendance in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos.
Deputy PM Ha noted thatin the first 11 months of 2022, trade between Vietnam and Switzerland reached721.3 million USD. Swiss investors have operated 197 FDI projects in Vietnamwith total capital of 1.89 billion USD, ranking 21st out of 140countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
He underlined thatwith a nearly 100-million-strong market, the engagement in 15 free tradeagreements, and the transition to sustainable growth, green, circular andlow-carbon economy, Vietnam is becoming an attractive destination offering greatchances in economy, trade and investment.
He asked Parmelin to create favourable conditions for Swiss firms to operate in Vietnam in the longterm, especially in areas of Switzerland’s strength and Vietnam’s demand suchas finance-banking, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, agriculturalproduct processing, renewable energy, and tourism.
Stressing that Vietnam is in need of collaboration in research and innovationtowards the net-zero emission goal in 2050, the country hopes for Switzerland’ssupport through different cooperation forms in the field.
Parmelin highly valuedVietnam’s commitments to net-zero emissions at the 26th UN Climate ChangeConference (COP26) and congratulated Vietnam on reaching justenergy transition with G7 countries and development partners. He affirmed that thecountry will assist Vietnam in switching to circular economy and circularproduction, digital economy and digital transformation towards greenerdirection.
An overview of the talks (Photo: VNA) Ha proposedthat the Swiss side continue to coordinate with Vietnam to speed up thenegotiation of the deal in the time to come. He pledged that Vietnam is willingto act as a bridge for EFTA members to reach the ASEAN market.
He said he hopes Parmelin will continue to back the Vietnamese community in thecountry to settle down.
Following their talks, Deputy PM Ha and Councillor Parmelin chaired a meetingwith Swiss businesses and investors, who showed their impressions at Vietnam’s achievements in economic recovery, and highly valued the country’seconomic outlook.
They held that thefree trade agreement between Vietnam and the EFTA will help boost trade andinvestment of Swiss investors in Vietnam. They said they hopes to expandinvestment scale and business partnerships in Vietnam.
Deputy PM Ha answeredquestions by the investors, while suggesting a number of measures to settleexisting problems and giving suggestions on green and environmentally-friendlyinvestment./.
