Vietnam, Sweden boost friendship, cooperation

Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam-Sweden Friendship Association (VSFA) under the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations held a seminar in Hanoi on November 23 on the role of Vietnam-Sweden people-to-people diplomacy over the past 50 years.

The event was one of activities to mark the 50th founding anniversary of the bilateral ties. It offered a good opportunity for the two countries’ people to recall their memories of the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Sweden in the past five decades.

Addressing the function, Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, who is President of the VSFA, said that Sweden was one of the first Western countries setting up diplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1969.

The bilateral relations have been continuously fostered by generations of Vietnamese and Swedish people, with the spiritual and material support for Vietnam during the times when the country faced difficulties.

Major works in Vietnam such as the Bai Bang Paper Factory, the National Hospital of Pediatrics and the Uong Bi General Hospital have become symbols of the Vietnam-Sweden relationship, he said.

Over the past years, the Vietnam-Sweden Friendship Association has organised a wide range of activities to boost people-to-people diplomacy like delegation exchanges and cultural, education and information exchanges.

He expressed his belief that the collaboration between the two nations will thrive in the future, contributing to the prosperity of each country as well as to the peace, stability and development in the world.

He affirmed that the VSFA and its chapters and members will do their utmost to help promote the friendship and connection between the two countries’ people.

For her part, Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Ann Margareta Mawe spoke highly of Vietnam’s impressive growth in the past five years.

Sweden will continue supporting Vietnam via programmes it conducts in the region, as well as the EU and the UN, she said, adding that 60 Swedish businesses present in Vietnam not only bring advanced technology but also job opportunities to the Southeast Asian nation.

She asserted that the bilateral friendship and cooperation will continue to see gigantic developments in the future, with great contributions of the people-to-people diplomacy./.