Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen on April 17 had a meeting with Thomas Gass. Photo: thanhuytphcm

At the meeting, Nguyen Van Nen affirmed that Vietnam - Switzerland relations are making good progress.

As one of the first countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1971, over the past 50 years, the relationship between the two countries has witnessed positive developments.

Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, always appreciates the support of the Swiss Government through ODA projects on poverty reduction, environmental protection, administrative reform, agriculture, education and training.

Switzerland always creates favorable conditions for Vietnam to enjoy preferential trade status.

During the recent Covid-19, Switzerland has also supported Vietnam in pandemic prevention.

According to Nguyen Van Nen, Ho Chi Minh City is aiming to become the economic, financial, commercial, scientific - technological and cultural center of the region.

Ho Chi Minh City has always implemented cooperation activities with Switzerland, especially in the economic field. At the same time, Vietnam wishes to continue promoting cooperation with Switzerland in areas where the country has strengths. Vietnam also expects Swiss companies to research to invest in the country.

Phan Van Mai received a souvenir from Swiss Ambassador Thomas Gass. Photo: Thanh Hang

With an important role in the EFTA bloc (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), Nguyen Van Nen hopes that Switzerland will join Vietnam in promoting negotiations towards the signing of Free Trade Agreements between Vietnam and EFTA countries, creating a favorable framework for economic and trade development between countries.

Thanking the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City, Ambassador Thomas Gass said that Switzerland considers the relationship between the two countries as a long-term and high-quality partnership. Ambassador Thomas Gass hopes to bring more delegations to Vietnam to develop areas of mutual interest.

Ambassador Thomas Gass also informed that Head of Swiss National Council Martin Candinas is expected to visit Vietnam in June.

In the afternoon of the same day, Phan Van Mai, standing deputy secretary of the HCM City Party Committee received Ambassador Thomas Gass.

Appreciating the relations between Vietnam - Switzerland, Phan Van Mai said that green economy development, circular economy, environmentally friendly industry, renewable energy, science - technology are the areas of interest to the city.

He expressed his hope that Ambassador Thomas Gass would have the interest and support to advance to more specific cooperation plans through training human resources from institutes and universities.

For Swiss businesses in the area, Phan Van Mai affirmed that the city has the responsibility to create the best conditions for businesses to operate.

Issues that the ambassador and the Swiss business community are interested in, such as granting work permits to foreign experts, are always recognized and resolved by the city's leaders.

Appreciating the potential of Ho Chi Minh City, Ambassador Thomas Gass affirmed that the city's development is a good opportunity to further promote the relationship between Switzerland and Ho Chi Minh City.

Switzerland is willing to cooperate, support and share experiences with the city to solve challenging issues in the development process. It aims to promote the growing cooperation between Switzerland and Vietnam, bringing practical benefits to the two countries.

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