VGP – Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan held talks with Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 11, as part of her four-day official visit to the European country.
Kristersson welcomed the Vietnamese Vice President’s visit, which took place on the occasion of the 55th founding anniversary of the Viet Nam-Sweden diplomatic relations (1969-2024).
He congratulated Viet Nam on its significant achievements in its socio-economic development, as well as its recent progress in international integration; expressing his wish to foster stronger ties with the Southeast Asian nation in such areas as trade, investment, innovation, digital transformation, green transition, climate change response, and sustainable development.
Regarding the role of the Vietnamese community of 22,000 people in Sweden, he affirmed that the Swedish Government would continue to create favorable conditions for them to deeply integrate into host society, contributing to prosperity and cultural diversity in his country.
Vo, for her part, said Sweden was the first Western European country to establish diplomatic relations with Viet Nam (in 1969) and the first Western European nation to provide non-refundable aid to Viet Nam (from the early 1970s) with a total amount exceeding US$3 billion, noted the guest.
She expressed her gratitude for valuable and effective support and assistance that the Government and people of Sweden have extended to Viet Nam, affirming that Viet Nam always expects to consolidate and expand the traditional friendship and cooperation with Sweden.
Vo thanked Sweden for being among the early countries to ratify the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
She called on the Swedish Government to continue encouraging Swedish businesses to boost investments in Viet Nam, particularly in spheres of renewable energy, digital transformation, green transition, circular economy, and infrastructure, especially helping the Southeast Asian nation innovate its economic growth model through innovation.
Both sides vowed to deepen their bilateral relations by increasing all-level delegation exchanges, particularly high-level visits, and closely coordinate at regional and international forums such as the United Nations and within the ASEAN-EU cooperation framework.
The two sides also committed to promoting collaboration in fields of innovation, science, technology, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges to foster mutual understanding and enhance friendship between the two nations, contributing to elevate their relationship to new heights.
Comparing notes on regional and international situation, both sides expressed concerns over escalating tensions in various global hotspots, emphasizing their shared stance to support sustainable and long-term peaceful solutions to conflicts, on the basis of respect for the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.
Before their meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs, and the other MoU between Viet Nam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs./.