Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström meet in Hanoi on November 23 (Photo: VGP/Hai Minh)

The consensus was reached by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström during their talks in Hanoi on Thursday.  The two officials agreed to increase the exchange of delegations, especially high-level ones, while continuing close coordination between Vietnam and Sweden at regional and international forums.  Minh proposed specific measures to step up bilateral cooperation in key spheres including politics-diplomacy, trade and investment, education-training, science-technology, and national defense-security. He called on Sweden to speed up the signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), to pour more investments in Vietnam, transfer cutting-edge technologies to the country and share its management experience in areas of its strength.  Vietnam wants to learn from Sweden in promoting innovation and start-up, he said, urging Sweden to assist Vietnam in completing its legal system and judicial reform. 

Wallström praised Vietnam’s socio-economic development and international integration achievements, especially the country’s successful hosting of the APEC Year 2017. The two ministers also discussed regional and international matters of mutual concern, including the situation in the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the East Sea issue.