Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong (R) and Crown Princess of Sweden Victoria Ingrid Alice Desiree at the reception (Source: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong on May 8 hosted a reception for Crown Princess of Sweden Victoria Ingrid Alice Desiree who is on an official visit to Vietnam on the occasion of the 50th founding anniversary of the Vietnam-Sweden diplomatic ties.
At the meeting, the Vietnamese official stressed HCM City and Vietnam in general always attach importance to developing relations with Sweden, one of the first western countries to establish diplomatic ties with Vietnam and supported it during its past struggles for national independence and in the current national construction process.
Mentioning challenges facing the city during its development, Phong suggested the Crown Princess call on Swedish firms to cooperate with the municipal authorities in waste water treatment, urban clean water; share experience in raising public awareness of environmental protection; and promote the transfer of waste-to-energy technology.
For her part, Crown Princess Victoria Ingrid Alice Desiree said the presence of Swedish Minister of Foreign Trade Ann Linde and 60 giant enterprises of the country in Vietnam during her visit to Vietnam and HCM City has shown her Sweden’s determination to promote bilateral cooperation between the two nations.
She said she is impressed by HCM City’s development, adding that the Vietnamese city and Swedish localities, especially capital Stockholm, have many similarities of challenges during their development.
This opens opportunities for the two sides to strengthen cooperation in fields of common concern such as environmental pollution, smart cities building and waste treatment, she said.
At the reception, Minister Ann and representatives from Swedish firms expressed their expectation to expand collaboration with HCM City in the fields of its strength and potential of Sweden.
Economic relations between HCM City and Sweden have recored stable development, with two-way trade in 2018 hit 170 million USD. Sweden is operating 32 investment projects worth nearly 300 million USD in the city, ranking 14th among the 106 countries and territories investing in the Vietnamese locality.-VNA
VNA
