The deputy PM made the call during his talks with Swedish FM Margot Wallström in Hanoi on November 23.
Minh expressed his gratitude towards Sweden for its valuable support, both materially and spiritually, for Vietnam in the country’s past struggle for independence and reunification and its current national development cause.
He emphasised the significance of the Swedish diplomat’s ongoing visit to Vietnam especially as the two countries are going to celebrate 50 years of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2019, affirming that the visit will contribute to further strengthening the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Sweden.
Minister Margot Wallström spoke highly of the significant achievements that Vietnam has obtained in socio-economic development and international integration over the past few years, particularly its successful organisation of the APEC Year 2017.
She stressed that Sweden wishes to further develop its traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam.
At the talks, the two ministers expressed their delight at the fine developments in the Vietnam-Sweden relations over recent times. Sweden is currently an important economic partner of Vietnam in Northern Europe with two-way trade reaching over US$1.2 billion annually. As of September 2017, the bilateral trade revenues were at more than US$1 billion, up 16% compared to the same period last year.
Both sides also agreed to strengthen the exchange of delegations, especially at the high level, and continue to work closely with each other at regional and international multilateral forums.
In order to consolidate and deepen the Vietnam-Sweden ties, Deputy PM Minh recommended a number of specific measures to facilitate bilateral collaboration in the fields of politics-foreign affairs, trade-investment, education-training, science-technology, and security-defence.
He asked the Swedish side to invest further in Vietnam, share its advanced technology and management experience in the fields of Sweden’s strength, share experience in promoting innovation and startup, consider granting more scholarships and creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese students to study in Sweden, and support the finalisation of the legal system and judicial reforms in Vietnam.
Notably, both sides agreed to accelerate the establishment of strategic partnerships between the two countries in the areas of education-training, life sciences, healthcare and environment.
On the occasion, Deputy PM Minh thanked and asked the Swedish Government to continue supporting and creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to lead a stable life in the country.
During their talks, the two ministers also discussed a number of international and regional issues of mutual concern, including the EU and ASEAN situation and the East Sea issue.
