Deputy PM holds talks with Swiss Vice President

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Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh (L) and Vice President and head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research of Switzerland Guy Parmelin (Photo: VNA)

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh held talks with Vice President and head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research of Switzerland Guy Parmelin in Geneva on January 20.

Both sides agreed to jointly hold celebrations for the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties next year.

Congratulating Vietnam on its socio-economic achievements last year, Parmelin expressed his belief that the country will fulfill the role of a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure and the ASEAN Chair 2020.

Deputy PM Binh wished that both sides would offer mutual support at multilateral forums, the United Nations and the ASEAN – Switzerland cooperation framework.

As of the late September last year, two-way trade hit 1.96 billion USD. Switzerland invested in 157 projects worth 1.95 billion USD, ranking 19th out of the 132 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

Host and guest affirmed that the two governments will continue providing support for Swiss and Vietnamese firms, especially in fields of Switzerland’s strength and Vietnam’s demand such as finance-banking, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, farm produce and tourism.

The two sides will continue stepping up negotiations on the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), to which Switzerland is a member, thus meeting the demand of the two economies.

Binh thanked Switzerland for development cooperation programmes for Vietnam in the fields of personnel training, rural and urban development, and poverty reduction, contributing to realising sustainable development goals in Vietnam.

He asked the European country to continue assisting Vietnam in stabilising macro-economy, reforming finance-banking, improving the capacity of global integration, coping with climate change, as well as reinforcing joint work across sustainable tourism, exports, labour market and social insurance with Vietnamese localities.

In education, the two shared experiences in improving high-quality tertiary and vocational education in combination with science-technology development, and discussed increasing scholarships for Vietnamese students to study in Switzerland in the fields of law, banking, technology and tourism.

They also highly valued the cooperation statement between the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation.

Binh proposed the Swiss government continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the country to stabilise their lives and uphold their role in bolstering bilateral ties.

He applauded Switzerland’s positive contributions to maintaining peace, security and development in the world.

The two leaders highlighted the significance of the settlement of disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in the East Sea as well as other regions.

During a meeting with Governor of Bern Canton Christoph Ammann, Binh affirmed that Vietnam always treasures the development of friendship and traditional cooperation with Switzerland at all levels, and wished that the canton would continue making further contributions to bilateral ties.

Host and guest vowed to enhance the sharing of information to fully tap bilateral cooperation potential, especially in fields of Bern’s strength such as tourism, technology, environment, education-training and research.

The Vietnamese official asked local authorities and business community to continue supporting talks on FTA between Vietnam and the EFTA, thus creating a new driving force for bilateral economic cooperation and facilitating trade and investment.