Hanoi (VNA) – National 🎉Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan hosted a reception for Danish Ambassador Charlotte Laursen and outgoing Swedish Ambassador Camilla Mellander on July 14.

Meeting Ambassador Laursen, Ngan said Vietnam values the development of comprehensive partnership with Denmark – one of its important partners in Northern Europe with two-way trade surpassing 534 million USD. She hailed the Danish government for choosing Vietnam as one of the top 10 countries for its growth strategy, and told her guest that Vietnam has offered incentives and support to foreign firms, including Danish firms, to operate over the long term in the country. With the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement (VEFTA) to be signed, new cooperation opportunities for the two countries’ business communities remain wide open, she said. On the occasion, the host thanked Denmark for its supply of official development assistance to Vietnam over the past years, which she said, have been effectively used in the priority fields of poverty reduction, public governance, administrative reform, climate change adaptation and environment. Laursen, for her part, said Vietnamese and Danish ministries and agencies should work closely together to seek more effective measures for priority fields. Denmark is ready to share experience and back Vietnam in the national target programme on efficient energy use and the national strategy on green growth, she said, adding that she will continue working to enhance bilateral ties between the two legislatures via the exchange of visits to learn from each other’s experience in law-making, supervision and enforcement. In a separate reception for Mellander, the NA Chairwoman congratulated Sweden on being elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2017-2018 tenure. Lauding Sweden as Vietnam’s important trade partner in Europe and Northern Europe, the top legislator appreciated the ambassador’s support for Swedish firms to do business in Vietnam, especially the opening of trade and investment promotion offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 2013. She also took the occasion to ask Sweden to call on the EU to sign and approve the VEFTA soon and recognise Vietnam as a market economy. Mellander, in reply, said apart from economic collaboration, both sides need to enhance ties across education and training, science and technology, and health care. In the near future, Vietnam and Sweden should promote the exchange of visits and dialogues between ministries, agencies and legislators to foster political trust and mutual understanding, she said. The guest pledged that in any position in the future, she will continue nurturing traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Sweden.-VNA