Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong (right) presents a gift to Swiss Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - A ceremony was held in Hanoion August 5 evening to celebrate Switzerland's 730th National Day (1291-2021) and the 50th founding anniversary of Vietnam-Switzerlanddiplomatic relations (1971-2021) with the attendance of Swiss VicePresident and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis.
At the event, the State Bank of Vietnam's Governor Nguyen Thi Hong, on behalf of the Vietnamese Government, congratulated the Swiss Government and people on the occasion.
With support from international friends, including Switzerland,Vietnam is sparing no efforts to push back the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.
Hong expressedher hope that there will be more high-ranking delegations andfriends from Switzerland to visit Vietnam as well as more people from the European countryto form connections with Vietnam.
Cassis said the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs supports the designing and construction of the 'Geneva Conference Room' within a new building ofthe Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam to support the facility's training andresearch on international relations.
With 177 direct investment projects in Vietnam and a total registeredcapital of about 1.9 billion USD, Switzerland currently ranks 20thamong 140 countries and territories directly investing inthe Southeast Asian nation.
Despite adverse impacts from the COVID-19epidemic, two-way trade between Vietnam and Switzerland reached 863.5million USD in 2020./.