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Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung (right) and visiting Swiss Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis at the ceremony. Photo: VnEconomy

The Swiss Government has pledged to provide Vietnam with CHF70 million (nearly US$80 million) for 2021-2024, aiming to help the Southeast Asian country improve its businesses climate and raise the competitiveness of its private sector.

A cooperation programme between the two countries during the 2021-2024 period was announced at virtual ceremony on August 6, with the participation of Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and visiting Swiss Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis.

In the past year, the Ministry of Planning and Investment coordinated with the Swiss Cooperation Office in Vietnam (SECO) to build the four-year cooperation strategy.

Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung. Photo: Investment Review

Switzerland has been Vietnam’s official development assistance (ODA), mostly non-refundable aid, since 1992.

As of 2020, Switzerland’s fund for Vietnam amounted to nearly CHF500 million, helping the country eliminate poverty and shift from a centrally planned to a market economy.

Dung and Cassis agreed upon key cooperation principles such as associating economic development with environmental protection and other social matters, reforming administrative procedures, building a healthy financial management capacity, and assisting enterprises in market management and access, among others.

Swiss Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis. Photo: Investment Review

The sides consented to mobilise Swiss resources for a project on supporting businesses in digital transformation in bilateral or trilateral forms.

Dung affirmed that his ministry will accompany Swiss firms that want to invest in Vietnam, and suggested the Swiss Vice President work to increase Swiss investments in the country and boost two-way trade.

The two sides also concurred to enhance trade and investment cooperation and encourage more top Swiss firms to invest in Vietnam, particularly in sectors with high proportion of technology, thus helping to turn Vietnam into a developing nation with a modern industry and an upper middle income in 2030./.

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Rosy Huong