Hanoi (VNA) – The official visit toVietnam by Crown Princess of Sweden Victoria Ingrid Alice Désiree and herspouse from May 6-8 is expected to foster the traditional friendship betweenthe two countries.

The visit is being made at the invitation ofVice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh on the occasion of the 50th foundinganniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations (1969-2019), illustratingVietnam’s appreciation of the role of the Swedish Royal Family and developmentof the long-standing friendly relations with the European country.

Sweden became the first western country torecognise and establish diplomatic ties with Vietnam on January 11, 1969, at atime when Vietnam was fighting for national independence and reunification.

Sweden was also the first western country tolaunch the strongest and earliest movements supporting Vietnam’s resistance waragainst the US from August 1966.

In June 1970, Sweden opened its embassy in Hanoiand one month later, Vietnam opened its embassy in Stockholm, marking animportant milestone in the bilateral relations, affirming the closeness andsolidarity between the governments and people of the two countries.

Sweden also took the lead in assisting Vietnamin the reform process right from its very first years in the fields of economicreform, finance, banking, economic management, administrative reform, and law;as well as actively supporting Vietnam to set up relations with internationalmonetary and financial organisations, such as the International Monetary Fund(IMF) and the World Bank (WB).

In January 2014, the Swedish parliament ratifiedthe Vietnam-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA).

In the field of development cooperation, Swedenhas been the largest provider of non-refundable aids for Vietnam among north-westernEuropean countries (starting from 1967) with a total amount of over 3.5 billionUSD, focusing on on healthcare, economic reform, institutional building,administrative reform, laws, human resources development, environment andclimate change, anti-corruption, and rule-of-law state building.

Over the past five decades, the bilateraltraditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation have been reinforced anddeveloped across such fields as economy, trade, investment, energy,environment, culture, and education-training.

In 2018, two-way trade surpassed 1.4 billionUSD. Vietnam mainly exports farm produce, footwear, garment-textiles, timberproducts, and mobile phones and components to Sweden, while importing machineryand components for the industrial and telecommunication sectors from theEuropean country.

The flow of Swedish investment into Vietnamhas surged in recent times. Sweden now ranks 34th out of 130 countries andterritories investing in Vietnam. 

The Swedish projectshave been being carried out in seven cities and provinces in Vietnam, namelyHanoi, Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh City, Long An, Vinh Phuc, Da Nang, and Hung Yen.

Vietnam and Sweden have signed a number ofcooperation agreements in various realms, such as general principles forbilateral cooperation, double taxation avoidance, investment protection andencouragement, culture, science-technology, and aviation transport.–VNA