(VOVworld) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc participated in activities on the sidelines of the 47th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos city, Switzerland on Wednesday. During a meeting with his Austrian counterpart Christian Kern, the two government leaders agreed to launch celebrations for the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic tie this year. Prime Minister Phuc asked Austria to recognise Vietnam as a market economy, push forward the European Union (EU)’s approval of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement, and back Vietnam’s bid for non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-2021 and early convene a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation.
In a working session with WEF President Klaus Schwab, the Vietnamese leader sought the WEF’s support to connect Vietnam with leading corporations and experts, and consultations on policies on national competitiveness and high-tech agriculture. He also proposed the WEF continue to hold the WEF Mekong Conference.
Both sides witnessed the signing of an agreement on economic development between Vietnam and the WEF.
During talks with President of the Asian Development Bank, Tahehiko Nakao, Prime Minister Phuc asked the lender to assist Vietnam in transport infrastructure upgrades, energy, administrative procedure simplification, and trade and investment facilitation in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
The two sides vowed to step up projects in infrastructure, climate change response, economic restructuring and poverty reduction and work with GMS member states to prepare for the 6th GMS Summit in Vietnam.
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| Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met representatives of IT groups, who are members of WEF (Photo: VGP) |
In a conversation with President of Microsoft Corporation Bradford Smith, Phuc urged Microsoft to continue doing business in Vietnam, and invited him to attend the APEC Business Summit this November in Da Nang.
In a meeting with WEF Managing Director, Philipp Roesler, the Prime Minister reiterated Vietnam’s determination to improve its investment and business climate to serve the public and businesses. He pledged active implementation of free trade deals signed and welcomed international investors and businesses to the APEC Year 2017 hosted by Vietnam.