Strengthening and enhancing bilateral relations between Vietnam and Switzerland

On the afternoon of January 21, local time, within the framework of attending the 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and bilateral activities in Switzerland, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had talks with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh congratulated Ms. Karin Keller-Sutter on her inauguration as President of Switzerland and expressed his belief that President Keller-Sutter will have a successful term, contributing to strengthening and enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Prime Minister respectfully conveyed the greetings and congratulations of General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong, and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter. Expressing his delight at returning to Switzerland and attending the WEF Davos Conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that Vietnam always attaches importance to the friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Switzerland.

Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter welcomed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to work bilaterally in Switzerland and attend the 55th WEF Davos Conference. President Keller-Sutter emphasized that the Swiss Government considers Vietnam an important partner in the region, wishing to bring bilateral relations to a new height, with political trust, comprehensiveness and effectiveness in all fields.

The two leaders assessed that the Vietnam-Switzerland relationship has recently had positive developments in many fields, especially in politics-diplomacy, trade-investment, development cooperation, science-technology, education-training, etc.

With a long history of good friendship and a common vision, the two leaders agreed that the current period is the right time to elevate the Vietnam-Switzerland relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership with major common principles and orientations, aiming to create a breakthrough, bringing the relationship between the two countries to develop more deeply, comprehensively and substantially on a bilateral level, as well as cooperation on a regional and global scale.

President Karin Keller-Sutter affirmed that the talks with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the two sides' agreement to upgrade the relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership are very important, helping to develop the bilateral relationship better and more effectively in the coming time; agreed that the two sides will continue to coordinate closely to concretize the contents of the Comprehensive Partnership.

The two leaders highly appreciated the prospects for economic cooperation in the Vietnam-Switzerland relationship, agreed to strive to increase bilateral trade turnover in the coming time; prioritize the early conclusion of negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and restart negotiations on the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, to facilitate economic exchanges and encourage businesses to invest long-term in the two countries.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh appreciated Switzerland's plan to continue supporting Vietnam in the field of development cooperation in the 2025-2028 period. The Swiss President welcomed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's proposal and expressed his willingness to expand cooperation with Vietnam in new areas that match the needs and strengths of both sides, such as innovation, digital transformation, high technology, AI, semiconductors, climate change response, carbon credit trading, experience sharing, and support for the construction of Vietnam's international financial center in Ho Chi Minh City, etc.

The two leaders highly appreciated the importance of security and defense cooperation, promoting defense industry cooperation, training, capacity building, support for participation in peacekeeping forces; researching, negotiating and signing defense and security cooperation agreements.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that the two sides further promote cooperation in the fields of education and training, science and technology, culture and tourism, especially in building a high-quality education system, promoting links between training institutions, research institutes and universities between the two countries, cooperation in sustainable tourism and human resource development in the tourism sector, etc.

President Keller-Sutter thanked Vietnam for its decision to waive short-term visas for Swiss citizens, contributing to encouraging people-to-people exchanges and understanding between the two countries. He also highly appreciated the integration and positive contributions of the Vietnamese community in Switzerland to the local socio-economy, promoting its role as a bridge to promote cooperation between the two countries.

Discussing international and regional issues, the two leaders agreed to promote cooperation in the face of global challenges and increase coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations and within the framework of the ASEAN-Switzerland Sectoral Dialogue Partnership.

At the talks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter witnessed the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed President Luong Cuong's respectful invitation to the Swiss President to visit Vietnam and President Karin Keller-Sutter happily accepted.

NDO