Viet Nam, Switzerland pledge to speed up negotiation, signing of EFTA

The agreement was reached during the talks held between National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and President of the National Council of Switzerland Martin Candinas in Ha Noi on June 28.

Vuong affirmed that Viet Nam always attaches importance to its traditional friendship and cooperation with Switzerland.

He expressed his gratitude for the European nation's provision of over US$ 600 million in official development assistance (ODA) for Viet Nam from 1991 to 2021 as well as for supporting the Southeast Asian country in the fight against COVID-19.

He proposed the two sides continue to enhance cooperation and exchange delegations through all channels and further coordinate closely at multilateral forums, thus contributing to peace, stability, and development in the region and the world.

The Vietnamese NA Chairman recommended  Switzerland increase scholarships for Viet Nam, promote cooperation between Vietnamese and Swiss educational institutions, and implement joint training programs in pharmaceuticals, precision mechanical engineering, tourism, finance, banking, and insurance.

Regarding parliamentary cooperation, he expressed his hope that the two sides will continue to maintain the exchange of delegations at high and all levels, including among parliament committees and parliamentarians.

The two sides can step up consultation and coordination as well as mutual support at multilateral forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie (APF), while promoting the cooperation among the two Friendship Parliamentarians Groups, he suggested.

Candinas, for his part, said Switzerland always considers Viet Nam a strategic economic cooperation partner in the region, adding that the Swiss business representatives wish to continue to pour investment into Viet Nam, thereby promoting cooperation and economic development between the two countries.

Switzerland wants to increase investment, trade cooperation and effective economic cooperation, helping to realize Viet Nam's goal of becoming a developed and high-income country by 2045, he noted.

Expressing his confidence in the fruitful development of the bilateral relations and with many projects and programs of Switzerland in Viet Nam over the past 30 years, Candinas emphasized that Switzerland will continue to strengthen the cooperation between the two nations in the future.

With the signing of an agreement on improving working conditions by the two countries, Candinas expressed his belief that Swiss programs and cooperation will contribute to improving labor productivity and improving working conditions for workers.

Candinas stated that Switzerland has paid due attention to promoting investment, trade, technology, and knowledge, hence it hoped that the FTA between Viet Nam and the EFTA, which consists of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, could be inked next year.

The two sides should continue to cooperate and share experience with each other in law-building activities to create institutions to meet requirements of issues of global concern such as just energy transition, digital transformation, and climate change response, he said.

The two leaders also exchanged views on a number of international and regional issues of mutual concern, including the East Sea issue. 

They underlined the importance of respecting international law, maintaining peace and stability, and ensuring security and safety, freedom of navigation and aviation; and held that all disputes should be resolved by peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)./.