Swedish Firms Want to Expand Operations in Vietnam

 

Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr Rolf Bergman, said: This is the first time Vietnamese and Swedish business delegations participate in a joint event to create opportunities for Swedish companies operating in Singapore to expand operations to Vietnam. The Swedish delegation consists of leading multinationals operating in finance, banking, medical equipment construction, real estate and telecom like SEB, Handelbanken International, SKF, GAMBRO, Cybercom and Getinge. “For long, the Swedish Government regards Asia, especially Southeast Asia, as the region of top priority in its development cooperation policies. This meeting is not an exception,” said Mr Rolf Bergman.

 

Ambassador Rolf Bergman also said many Vietnamese products have made present in Sweden for a long time. Vietnam has passed the stage of very fast growth, event the fastest in Asia. Therefore, although Vietnam is suffering from inflation, he believes that Vietnam will quickly weather it. “At present, the two-way trade and investment are mainly involved in tourism and culture. Hopefully, businesses of the two countries will boost investment and trade ties in the coming time,” said Mr Rolf Bergman.

 

Mr Pham Gia Tuc, Vice Chairman cum General Secretary of VCCI, said: Sweden is the first Western country to recognise and establish diplomatic relationship with Vietnam on January 11, 1969. The Vietnam - Sweden relationship has been instantly strengthened and developed over the past time, even when Vietnam encountered the hardest difficulty. The two countries usually exchange delegations of all tiers to enhance the mutual understanding of their leaders and promote economic, commercial, investment and tourist cooperation. Sweden highly appreciates and supports Vietnam in economic, social reform and poverty reduction.

 

According to the statistics, Sweden is one of the first Western nations to grant aids to Vietnam. To date, this country aided Vietnam with nearly US$2.6 billion, which was used to fund many key projects like Bai Bang Paper Factory and Central Paediatrics Hospital (Hanoi) and Uong Bi General Hospital (Quang Ninh). Sweden also actively supports Vietnam in economic, administrative and legal reform and poverty reduction among other tasks.

 

During the visit of Swedish King and Queen to Vietnam from February 2 to 7, 2004, the two countries signed a framework agreement on development cooperation in the 2004-2006 period on the basis of Swedish National Strategy on Development Cooperation with Vietnam in the 2004-2008 phase. Accordingly, Sweden pledged to provide support for Vietnam in the following three years with 300 million curon each (or nearly US$40 million). The Vietnamese and Swedish governments also inked the Cooperation Agreement on Research for the period from 2004 to 2007, under which Sweden granted 100 million curon to Vietnam. The both nations also signed a pact on adopted children.

 

Mr Tuc said many Swedish business delegations have visited and explored the Vietnamese market. The two-way trade revenue has increased year after year. The bilateral trade turnover totalled US$102 million in 2000 but the figure jumped to US$392 million in 2007.

 

Vietnam’s key exports to Sweden include coffee, tea, pepper, plastic products, rubber, leather products, timber, wooden products, bamboo and rattan products, apparels, potteries, electronic products and parts and footwear. Vietnam’s key imports from Sweden consist of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, tanned leather, plastics, timber and wooden products, papers, pulps, cotton, footwear, glasses, steel, nuclear plants, electric appliances, film-making equipment and medical equipment.

Year	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Vietnam export	62,370	89,969	108,592	133,594	170,964	209,216
Vietnam import	62,504	114,216	125,114	139,426	164,197	202,356
Import-export turnover	124,874	204,185	233,706	273,020	335,151	411,572

(Source: Ministry of Industry and Trade)

 

Mr Tuc revealed that the Vietnamese Government has built an action programme to boost the multifaceted relationship with the EU and its members from now to 2010 and vision spanning to 2015. “VCCI has cooperated with Eurocham to organise the Vietnam - EU Business Forum and the Vietnam’s admission to the WTO is a good chance to speed up the commercial, investment and tourist ties between Vietnam and Sweden. VCCI, as a representative of the Vietnamese business community and the largest trade promoter in Vietnam, is always a bridge for the two countries to develop relationship,” Mr Tuc affirmed.