Stockholm (VNA) – Several leading Swedish businessesexpressed their intention to expand investment in Vietnam, during a meetingwith visiting Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Stockholm on May 27.

Most of the participating companies, includingElectrolux, Oriflame, Scania, ABB, Ericsson, and Volvo, have already been investingin Vietnam for many years.

In his speech, PM Phuc highly valued the Swedishfirms’ prestige in the global market, including Vietnam.

The Swedish government and people have alwaysbeen a good friend to the country, giving enormous assistance to the Vietnamesepeople during the fight for national independence in the past, as well asnational development at present, the PM noted.

He expressed his hope that Swedish businesseswill continue investing and applying new, cutting-edge technologies in Vietnam,as well as further taking part in local socio-economic development.

At the meeting, CEO of Business Sweden Ylva Bergthanked the PM and relevant agencies of the Vietnamese Government for helpingto successfully organise the recent visit by Crown Princess of Sweden VictoriaIngrid Alice Desiree. She said she believes that the official visit to hercountry by PM Phuc will create a new milestone in the promotion of bilateraleconomic, trade, and investment ties.

Leaders of Swedish companies shared the hopethat the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will be signed soon, therebyfacilitating Swedish trade with Vietnam.

Jonas Samuelson, CEO of home appliancemanufacturer Electrolux, said the Vietnamese market generates 15 million USD inannual revenue and is the most important market of his company in SoutheastAsia.

Hakan Buskhe, CEO of defence and securitysolution provider Saab, said his group invests 25 percent of its revenue inresearch and development every year. It has had cooperation activities in termsof air space and seaport management, and it is ready to transfer technologiesto Vietnamese partners.

Meanwhile, Fredrik Jejdling, Executive VicePresident of telecom giant Ericsson, noted that the group has invested inVietnam since 1993 and cooperated well with Vietnamese telecom service providers. 

The group is working to set up a coordinationmechanism for providing 5G infrastructure in Vietnam, and wishes to contributemore to the country’s innovation process through software and technologicalsolutions, he added.

Johan Soderstrom, Managing Director of ABBSweden that has been operating in the Southeast Asian nation since 1998, spokehighly of the Vietnamese market’s potential. He expressed a strong commitmentto bolstering cooperation with Vietnam, especially in developing the power gridnetwork.

Welcoming the companies’ plans, PM Phuc affirmedthat authorised agencies of Vietnam will provide the best possible support forSwedish businesses to expand investment. He also promised to directly listen totheir opinions and remove obstacles so that major companies of Sweden can helpbring advanced technologies to Vietnam.

As a gateway of ASEAN markets and with manynew-generation free trade agreements already or about to be signed, Vietnam isan open market for Swedish enterprises, the PM added. –VNA