Vietnamese State President Nguyen Minh Triet began an official visit to Switzerland on May 16 at the invitation of Swiss President Doris Leuthard, after his successful official visit to Belarus from May 13-16.

 

Mr Triet was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem; Chairman of the State President’s Office Nguyen Van Chien; Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan; Secretary of the Lam Dong provincial Party Committee Huynh Phong Tranh; Vietnamese Ambassador to Switzerland Hoang Van Nha; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Nam Hai; Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam; and Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc.

 

As one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic ties with Vietnam, Switzerland has always given priority to Vietnam for official development assistance (ODA).

 

Vietnam enjoys many of Switzerland’s incentive policies for trade, economics and investment relations for developing countries.

 

In 2009, Vietnam had an export surplus to Switzerland of over US$2 billion, while the two-way trade turnover between the two countries reached approximately US$2.6 billion. Key export items included footwear, seafood, coffee, garments, and textiles.

 

At present, more than 74 Swiss-invested projects are being implemented in Vietnam, with total registered capital of US$1.43 billion, ranking Switzerland number 19 among 86 countries and territories with direct investment in Vietnam.

 

VOV