A visit of attachment and trust

At the invitation of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan will lead the Vietnamese delegation on an official visit to Denmark from November 20-22.

In the context of current positive developments in Vietnam-Denmark relations, the Vice President's visit is extremely important, especially at a time when the two countries celebrate the 10th anniversary of their Comprehensive Partnership. This visit also takes place right after the two countries have established the Green Strategic Partnership. In that spirit, I want to emphasize a few points as follows:

Firstly, this visit continues to affirm the closeness, trust and mutual understanding between the leaders of the two countries, contributing to further consolidating and deepening the Vietnam-Denmark bilateral relationship.

Secondly, less than a month after the Prime Ministers of the two countries approved a joint statement establishing the Vietnam-Denmark Green Strategic Partnership (on November 1), Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and the Vietnamese delegation pay an official visit to Denmark with a program of activities with many specific and substantive contents to implement the commitment of the leaders of the two countries to promote cooperation related to green transition and sustainable development.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Denmark Luong Thanh Nghi. (Photo: TGVN)

Thirdly, according to the program, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan will meet with Danish Crown Prince Frederik, hold talks with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and meet with Speaker of the Danish Parliament Soren Gade. The Vice President will also attend the 10th anniversary of the Comprehensive Partnership co-chaired by the Copenhagen City Council and the Vietnamese Embassy in Denmark; meet the Vietnamese community in Denmark; visit and work with many Danish businesses operating in the field of green growth and sustainable development.

It is expected that in meetings with Danish senior leaders, in addition to discussing international and regional issues of mutual interest, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan will focus on measures to consolidate and further deepen the traditional and friendly relations between Vietnam and Denmark as well as new cooperation contents that are valuable for the sustainable development of Vietnam.

In addition, the Vice President's activities with Danish businesses will also contribute to affirming Vietnam's commitment to creating a stable and favorable environment, strengthening the trust of foreign businesses, including Danish businesses, into the investment and business environment in Vietnam, contributing to realizing the policy of shifting from "quantity" to "quality" in investment promotion, attracting more green, high-quality investment of Danish businesses in Vietnam.

With such a dense and focused agenda, I believe that the visit of Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and the Vietnamese delegation will be a great success, contributing to consolidating, and comprehensively upgrading the content of cooperation between Vietnam and Denmark, for the country's development as well as enhancing Vietnam's position and reputation in solving global environment, green transition and sustainable development.

Enhanced scope for cooperation

It can be affirmed that the Vietnam-Denmark Comprehensive Partnership over the past 10 years has developed very well . That is shown through, firstly, the current political-diplomatic relationship between Vietnam and Denmark demonstrates high political trust and affection, a special bond between the leaders and people of the two countries. Both sides regularly maintain delegation exchanges at all levels, especially high-level visits and meetings, both showing respect for each other's roles and providing direction for specific cooperation contents.

The most recent visit to Vietnam by the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness in early November 2022 is a highlight, focusing on discussions on cooperation in the field of green transition with the participation of nearly 40 leading Danish and Vietnamese businesses. During the visit, the two sides signed 14 Memoranda of Understanding on cooperation in the field of energy, especially renewable energy.

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan welcomed Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary Elizabeth to visit Vietnam in November 2022. (Photo: TGVN)

Secondly, economic - trade - investment cooperation over the past decade has developed strongly, achieving many positive results. Total bilateral trade turnover in the past 10 years has increased nearly twofold, from USD 480 million in 2013 to nearly USD 900 million in 2022.

More and more Danish investors are interested in finding opportunities, expanding business and production in Vietnam. By the end of December 2022, Denmark had 155 active investment projects with a total registered capital of more than USD 1.787 billion, ranking 22^nd out of 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

Thirdly, strategic sector cooperation (SSC) with a focus on energy and environment, agriculture and agricultural products, health, education and statistics is being implemented very effectively by the two countries , notably the Vietnam - Denmark Energy Partnership Cooperation Program which is in phase 3 from 2020-2025. In addition, cooperation in a number of other fields such as science and technology, justice, people-to-people exchange, culture... is also becoming increasingly substantive.

I think that the potential for cooperation between the two countries is large, with a lot of room for development. From a bilateral perspective, the two countries upgrading their relationship to a Green Strategic Partnership will open a new chapter in Vietnam-Denmark cooperation.

Denmark is a highly determined country with drastic and specific policies to realize the goal of leading in green transition and sustainable development in the world today. These are also areas where Vietnam has a great demand for cooperation in the guiding spirit of placing people at the center of all policy decisions, not sacrificing growth at all costs of the "Economic Development Strategy for 10 years from 2021-2030" launched at the 13th Party Congress and the "National Strategy on Green Growth for the period 2021-2030 with a vision to 2050" approved by the Government in October 2021.

Danish Crown Prince Frederik took a souvenir photo when coming to celebrate Vietnam's National Day held at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in the Danish capital Copenhagen, September 2022. (Photo: TGVN)

The Danish side also highly appreciated Vietnam's commitments to bring net emissions to "zero" by 2050 made by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at COP-26, considering Vietnam as one of the main partners in the transition to a green economy.

If Vietnam effectively takes advantage of the newly established relationship framework, it will bring practical benefits to Vietnam in gradually moving the country from an economy dependent on fossil energy as it currently does to a new stage of development, becoming a green, circular, and sustainable economy, which is also the general global development trend.

From a multilateral perspective, Vietnam and Denmark regularly support each other at international and regional multilateral forums such as the United Nations and its organizations, ASEM, ASEAN-EU, and the ASEAN Economic Forum. Partnership for Green Growth and Global Goals (P4G) not only demonstrates high political trust between the two countries, but also shows that Denmark values ​​and has a positive assessment of Vietnam's foreign policy in international and regional issues.

All in all, with a solid foundation and trust from both sides, the new horizon of cooperation between Vietnam and Denmark is increasingly open, meeting the needs and interests of both sides.

Besides the "secret" for happiness, Vietnam can share the "secret" for green living of the Danish people for more sustainable development and prosperity.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Denmark will constantly strive to become a bridge between the people and businesses of the two countries, contributing to the overall development of the country as well as the comprehensive and strategic relationship between Vietnam and Denmark.

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