Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg spoke to the Vietnamese press inHanoi on April 16 during a three-day official visit to Vietnam at theinvitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
What's your view on relations between Vietnam and Norway in recent year?Are there plans to promote bilateral ties between the two countries?
I think Vietnam and Norway have a very goodrelationship based on business, trade and international cooperationwithin United Nations projects, such as UNICEF, where we are partners inpromoting education, social development, job investment and jobcreation.
Vietnam and Norway have many things incommon. Fisheries are important for both of our countries and we havebeen working together on this front. The maritime sector is alsoimportant and, of course, the energy sector.
I'mhere both as the Norwegian Prime Minister and as an advocate for theUN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In fact, we will have ameeting tomorrow to discuss the progress Vietnam has made, which I thinkis quite remarkable.
Bilateral trade betweenVietnam and Norway was 307.8 million USD last year. What plan of actionare the two sides pursuing to improve this figure? What expectations doyou have for this visit?
My expectation is to getin closer touch and learn more about Vietnam. It's important thatpolitical leaders meet each other for discussions. It's a good frameworkfor international co-operation and trade.
About thetrade figure, I think it will increase in the future as Norway has alarge Vietnamese community with many contacts in their home country.
Vietnam and Norway are working on different levels of contacts,government-to-government and people-to-people, to create investment andbusiness.
Beside cooperation on economic andpolitical fronts, the two countries are also working together to solveenvironmental-related issues and to promote education. Would youelaborate on the current level of support of your government forVietnam? How is it contributing to Vietnam achieving the UN's MillenniumDevelopment Goals and Sustainable Development Goals?
First I always believed that the helping country has to deal with bigissues like education and the environment. It's very important to havepolitical connections, but sometimes the emphasis is cooperation andpartnership with other countries to learn how they are dealing withthose issues.
We are doing this in forestprotection, because forests are important. I came here from Indonesiawhere we discussed important issues related to the rain forest. We arealso cooperating with Vietnam on that front and we will continue to doso.
Through the UNICEF, Norway is supportingdifferent projects to make sure that quality education can reacheverybody, especially marginalised groups having problems attending orfulfilling an education programme.
I believe women'seducation is especially important because it helps families tofunction. Many female prime ministers around the world believe women'sissues should be a big part of equal rights.
Mypersonal belief is that female education is the most important. If womenare well-educated, it is much more likely that they will be able tosupport themselves and make their own choices.
Vietnam has made great progress on this issue, but there is always roomfor improvement. I'm going to visit some UNICEF programmes in thecountry's Northwest region. We understand that some localities requiremore attention to ensure that all women are well-educated.
What's your opinion on Vietnam progress to achieve MDGs? How will Norway continue to support Vietnam in this mission?
The figures are very good. The country has done remarkably not just onthe economic front, but also on social development fronts, such aspoverty reduction, education and health care.
I'mgoing to the Lao Cai province to gain another perspective of Vietnam as Iunderstand there are different challenges to be addressed in thecountry side from the cities.
I'm looking forward to hear the Vietnam Government's strategies as a MDGs' advocate.-VNA
What's your view on relations between Vietnam and Norway in recent year?Are there plans to promote bilateral ties between the two countries?
I think Vietnam and Norway have a very goodrelationship based on business, trade and international cooperationwithin United Nations projects, such as UNICEF, where we are partners inpromoting education, social development, job investment and jobcreation.
Vietnam and Norway have many things incommon. Fisheries are important for both of our countries and we havebeen working together on this front. The maritime sector is alsoimportant and, of course, the energy sector.
I'mhere both as the Norwegian Prime Minister and as an advocate for theUN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In fact, we will have ameeting tomorrow to discuss the progress Vietnam has made, which I thinkis quite remarkable.
Bilateral trade betweenVietnam and Norway was 307.8 million USD last year. What plan of actionare the two sides pursuing to improve this figure? What expectations doyou have for this visit?
My expectation is to getin closer touch and learn more about Vietnam. It's important thatpolitical leaders meet each other for discussions. It's a good frameworkfor international co-operation and trade.
About thetrade figure, I think it will increase in the future as Norway has alarge Vietnamese community with many contacts in their home country.
Vietnam and Norway are working on different levels of contacts,government-to-government and people-to-people, to create investment andbusiness.
Beside cooperation on economic andpolitical fronts, the two countries are also working together to solveenvironmental-related issues and to promote education. Would youelaborate on the current level of support of your government forVietnam? How is it contributing to Vietnam achieving the UN's MillenniumDevelopment Goals and Sustainable Development Goals?
First I always believed that the helping country has to deal with bigissues like education and the environment. It's very important to havepolitical connections, but sometimes the emphasis is cooperation andpartnership with other countries to learn how they are dealing withthose issues.
We are doing this in forestprotection, because forests are important. I came here from Indonesiawhere we discussed important issues related to the rain forest. We arealso cooperating with Vietnam on that front and we will continue to doso.
Through the UNICEF, Norway is supportingdifferent projects to make sure that quality education can reacheverybody, especially marginalised groups having problems attending orfulfilling an education programme.
I believe women'seducation is especially important because it helps families tofunction. Many female prime ministers around the world believe women'sissues should be a big part of equal rights.
Mypersonal belief is that female education is the most important. If womenare well-educated, it is much more likely that they will be able tosupport themselves and make their own choices.
Vietnam has made great progress on this issue, but there is always roomfor improvement. I'm going to visit some UNICEF programmes in thecountry's Northwest region. We understand that some localities requiremore attention to ensure that all women are well-educated.
What's your opinion on Vietnam progress to achieve MDGs? How will Norway continue to support Vietnam in this mission?
The figures are very good. The country has done remarkably not just onthe economic front, but also on social development fronts, such aspoverty reduction, education and health care.
I'mgoing to the Lao Cai province to gain another perspective of Vietnam as Iunderstand there are different challenges to be addressed in thecountry side from the cities.
I'm looking forward to hear the Vietnam Government's strategies as a MDGs' advocate.-VNA
