WEF Davos 2024 - an opportunity for Vietnam to attract investment: Swiss Ambassador
WVR - Swiss Ambassador to Vietnam Thomas Gass emphasized opportunities for Vietnam to demonstrate its international commitments in WEF Davos 2024, thereby drawing many attractive investment sources.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Swiss Ambassador to Vietnam Thomas Gass in April, 2023. (Source: TTXVN) |
Can you share the key contents and significance of the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF)?
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an important forum as the world is transforming rapidly and mutual trust needs to be rebuilt. The international community and the world economy have to face many disruptive chocks in recent years.
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| Swiss Ambassador to Vietnam Thomas Gass. (Photo: QH) |
In addition, we are facing deep structural shifts, including geoeconomics, such as cost of living crisis, energy and food insecurity, instability, etc, climate change.
The WEF is a place where leaders of states and governments, captains of the private sector and representatives of academia and civil society, take a “time out” to reflect and search for solutions, hold each other accountable to common visions such as the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement, and encourage champions and early movers to take positive initiatives.
We desperately need to recommit to multilateralism and international rule of law. New and upgraded platforms are needed for dialogue and to build stronger partnerships.
The complex problems we are facing cannot be solved by governments alone, because any effective solution will require large investments that can only be made with the active involvement of the private sector. Sustainable solutions therefore need to take into account the viability and profitability of businesses and the functioning of the global economy.
A Vietnamese high-ranking delegation led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will attend the 54th Annual Meeting of WEF. What are your expectations about Vietnam’s contributions to the meeting?
It’s very meaningful that Prime Minister Chinh is participating actively in this reflection. At an earlier WEF Event held in China in June last year, Prime Minister Chinh reminded that in the face of strong headwinds, the international community needs “.. to have global solidarity and multilateralism and a people-centred approach".
Vietnam can speak with confidence because it has made significant contributions to the resolution of a wide range of global issues and deserves full recognition from the international community for its efforts.
Indeed, as an active member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Vietnam has played an important role in promoting regional stability and cooperation. Vietnam has also participated in peacekeeping operations around the world, including in South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
Vietnam has also taken several significant steps to reduce its carbon footprint, with a commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Vietnam is also working to improve its resilience to climate change by adopting a National Climate Change Adaptation Plan and implementing measures to protect vulnerable communities.
Vietnam is also working to improve its energy security by investing in renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.
Such examples are numerous and the Forum will therefore provide the Vietnamese delegation with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to concrete solutions and to gain the support of the investment community for its efforts, which could confidently expect a high return on investment.
Vietnam is playing a growing part, not only in the region but also beyond. In this context, and given Vietnam's goal of becoming a high-income, low-carbon country within 20 years, it is all the more important for Vietnam to demonstrate its willingness to maintain a continuous dialogue and share with the international community its approach, outlook and experience on integration into the global system and socio-economic development.
As mentioned above, this event will be an opportunity for Vietnam to seek investment and resources from international companies, business groups and investment funds, in particular possibly from Switzerland.
How do you assess Vietnam’s implementation of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Vietnam and WEF for the period 2023-2026?
With the signing of the MoU, Vietnam has the prospect of accessing global resources and expertise and participating in the WEF's global programmes.
As the investment community has often pointed out, the economy requires a strong and determined will to continue to commit to sustainable development, to further cut red tape, make administrative procedures faster + more transparent, substantially improve education and human resource development, accelerate the promotion of the digital economy, and other measures.
I am well aware that the Vietnamese authorities are working hard to address these challenges, as evidenced by increasing FDI inflows, but it is important to keep in mind that global competition to attract foreign investment is fierce and efforts must be made to continuously improve conditions to maintain an edge over competitors.
The Government of Vietnam is addressing through the mainstreaming of the Principles of Eco-Industrial Parks. Furthermore the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee is coordinating with WEF to establish a 4.0 Industrial Revolution Center in Ho Chi Minh City – to address key issues such as Circular Economy and Digitalization.
Could you share with us achievements in the bilateral ties over the recent years and the importance of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s attendance at the WEF to the bilateral relationship?
Relations between Switzerland and Vietnam have traditionally been very warm and continue to strengthen and deepen. Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to formally recognize the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1971, and relations have developed dynamically, gradually shifting their focus from economic development cooperation to business exchanges among private sector players, which are now in full swing.
Switzerland welcomes the fact that negotiations on a free trade agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Vietnam are currently gaining new momentum. Once in force, the agreement will create an improved framework potentially paving the way for increased Swiss direct investment in Vietnam, and will also boost bilateral trade.
Vietnam's foreign policy and economic environment are so dynamic that countries are lining up to upgrade their partnership with Vietnam, and I would certainly like to see the same happen with Switzerland, so I am devoting all my attention and efforts to this issue.
Top Swiss Government officials have made several visits to Vietnam over the past years. The most recent was in June 2023 by the President of the Swiss Parliament, Martin Candinas, at the end of which his Vietnamese counterpart, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, accepted his invitation to visit Switzerland in 2024.
Switzerland's main exports to Vietnam are pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery and precision engineering, while Vietnam's main exports to Switzerland are electronic products such as mobile phones, as well as footwear, textiles and maritime products.
Since 2008, Switzerland's economic development cooperation with Vietnam has focused on areas such as improving public finances, strengthening the financial sector, increasing the competitiveness of SMEs, urban planning and climate resilience, and projects to promote sustainable growth.
In the area of academic cooperation, NAFOSTED and the Swiss National Science Foundation have a close partnership through which they support outstanding joint Swiss-Vietnamese research projects.
The annual World Economic Forum also provides an opportunity for high-level meetings between the authorities of our countries, and the strong mutual interest is reflected in the regularity of the meetings between Vietnamese and Swiss policymakers that have taken place on the occasion of the Forum over the years.
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