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From January 15-23, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits to the Republic of Poland, the Czech Republic. He will also attend the 55th WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland (WEF Davos Conference) and have bilateral meetings with country leaders while in Switzerland.

This year's WEF Davos Conference has the theme "Cooperation for the Smart Era", including 5 key contents, namely (i) Reshaping growth, (ii) Industries in the smart era, (iii) Investing in human resources, (iv) Protecting the planet, and (v) Rebuild trust. The conference is expected to welcome 2,700 delegates, including about 60 heads of governments, states, international organizations and royal representatives of countries, leaders of large corporations, professors, scholars, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and so on.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh talks with Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and Chairman of the WEF, on June 26, 2023 (Photo: VGP).

Over the years, the cooperation between Vietnam and the WEF has been increasingly implemented strongly and substantively. Leaders of the two sides regularly contact, promote cooperation programs, and effectively implement the memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides for the period of 2023-2026. On September 25, 2024, the two sides inaugurated the Center for Industrial Revolution 4.0 (C4IR) in Ho Chi Minh City, which is the second C4IR in the WEF's network of 19 C4IRs globally.

WEF continuously invited the Prime Minister to attend the global annual conference. It showcases Vietnam's increasing role, position and international prestige; at the same time, affirming Vietnam's active and responsible participation in multilateral forums, Vietnam's efforts in maintaining peace, development and solving global problems. This is also an opportunity for the country to convey the message of its socio-economic development achievements and potentials, advantages and opportunities in the smart era, affirming Vietnam's determination and efforts in continuing to innovate thinking, creativity and breakthroughs, promoting self-reliance, self-reliance, proactively adapt, turn ideas into actions and concrete results.

On the other hand, Vietnam-Switzerland relations have also developed positively. The two sides maintain regular high-level contacts, most notably the recent meeting of Vietnam's General Secretary and President To Lam with the President of Switzerland on the occasion of attending the Francophone Summit (October 2024). Switzerland is an important trading partner of Vietnam in Europe. Two-way trade turnover in the first 11 months of 2024 reached US $732.7 million. In August 2021, Switzerland supported Vietnam with 13 tons of medical equipment worth US $5.5 million to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic. Recently, Switzerland sent 6 landslide experts to Vietnam to study, support and help overcome the consequences of Typhoon Yagi. Bilateral cooperation in the fields of education and training, innovation, sustainable development, culture and tourism still has a lot of potential for development.

Other European partner countries of Vietnam are Poland and the Czech Republic, with the traditional friendship between Vietnam and these countries that developed well. The partnerships are going deeper and deeper through maintaining delegation exchanges and high-level contacts, coordination and mutual support at international forums.

In 2025, Vietnam, together with Poland and the Czech Republic, will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (1950-2025). Meanwhile, in Vietnam-Poland relations, the two sides maintain traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation; regularly exchange delegations at all levels, notably recently the delegation of the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam to Poland (March 2024) and the delegation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland to Vietnam (2023).

In terms of economy and trade, Poland is Vietnam's leading partner in Central and Eastern Europe; Vietnam is Poland's leading trading partner in ASEAN. Two-way trade turnover in the 2021-2023 period will reach more than US $2.5 billion/year. Turnover in the first 11 months of 2024 will reach US $3.151 billion. Poland is one of the first countries in the European Union (EU) to support 1.4 million doses of vaccine and 8 tons of medical equipment worth US $4 million to help Vietnam cope with the Covid-19 epidemic. Cooperation in other fields such as defense, security, education and training, agriculture, culture, and labor has developed positively.

In Vietnam-Czech relations, the two sides regularly exchange delegations at all levels, notably recently the delegation of Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son visiting the Czech Republic (June 2023) and the delegation of Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala visiting Vietnam (April 2023). Also, the Czech Republic is Vietnam's leading trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe; Vietnam is the most important partner of the Czech Republic in ASEAN. Two-way trade turnover in the first 11 months of 2024 will reach US $1.8 billion. The Czech Republic is one of the European countries to early ratify the Investment Protection Agreement between Vietnam and the EU (EVIPA). Cooperation in the fields of national defense, security, science and technology, culture and sports has developed positively. The Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic has about 100,000 people, integrates well with the local society, was recognized as an ethnic minority by the Czech Republic in 2013, has a tradition of solidarity, towards the homeland, and actively contributes to the local society and relations between the two countries.

The official visit to Poland and the Czech Republic, attending the WEF Davos 2025 Conference and working bilaterally in Switzerland by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse and the Vietnamese high-level delegation are clear proofs of the positive and good development of traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation. Also, the visit affirms Vietnam's consistent policy of always attaching importance to and wishing to consolidate and promote political trust, bringing cooperation with the WEF, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland to continue to go deep, substantive, effective, and in line with the new situation.

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