Davos (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on January 17 afternoon (local time) received leaders of major international businesses to promote investment into Vietnam during his working trip to Davos, Switzerland to attend the 54th Annual Meeting of the WEF (WEF-54).

Receiving Marcus Bards, Chairman of the Board of Directors of staBOO Holdings AG Company - a subsidiary of BARD AG specialising in research, development, and production of high-end interior products, PM Chinh appreciated the cooperation between the company and its Vietnamese partners to build a factory to produce bamboo products. The cooperation helps enhance the value of bamboo and increase income for bamboo growers. Moreover, with modern technologies, the factory produces environmentally friendly products and export them to the world.

Chinh said that Vietnam is prioritising projects with advanced, new or clean technology, modern governance, high added value, and spillover effects that help connect Vietnam with global production and supply chains.

He asked staBOO Holdings AG to comply with environmental regulations, help with human resources training, and support Vietnamese businesses to participate in the company's production and supply chains.

The PM affirmed that Vietnam will accompany the company in implementing the project, and facilitate its investment expansion to localities across the country.
Meanwhile, Marcus Bards said he and his colleagues appreciated the investment environment in Vietnam. He believed that Vietnam has great potential for developing the furniture industry, especially from bamboo. Therefore, the company wishes to make long-term investment in Vietnam, he said, adding that it will use modern technology, reduce carbon emissions, meet Vietnam's green and sustainable development requirements, and make Vietnamese bamboo products go global. 

On this occasion, the staBOO Holdings AG and Sao Thai Duong Investment Joint Stock Company exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding on investment cooperation in building a factory to produce particleboards and OSB plywood panels from bamboo in the central province of Thanh Hoa with a total investment of 3 trillion VND (122.25 million USD). The factory is expected to produce 225,000 cubic meters of products per year, consume 1,000-2,000 tonnes of bamboo daily, and create more than 3,000 jobs.

The same day, PM Chinh received leaders of Sweden’s Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) Group, which operates in the field of finance and banking. Its SEB bank is the largest one in the Northern European region with total assets reaching nearly 339 billion USD.

During the reception, Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman of SEB Group, and his colleagues showed their admiration for Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements over the past time and Vietnam's role in the region and the world, especially its efforts in creating favourable conditions for investors.

The group wishes to invest and do business in Vietnam, he said, adding it plans to organise a Nordic business conference in Hanoi to continue to explore investment cooperation opportunities in Vietnam, especially industrial development, digital transformation, and sustainable development.

PM Chinh said that the growing Vietnam – Sweden relations are an important favourable foundation for businesses from both sides to boost investment cooperation. He welcomed the group's development plan in Vietnam in the coming time.

Regarding the Nordic business conference, Chinh suggested SEB coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to organise an investment promotion event on the occasion of the conference to further connect Vietnamese and Northern European businesses and localities, especially in the fields of green transformation, digital transformation, and circular economy development. The PM also asked businesses in the Nordic region to cooperate with the Vietnam National Innovation Centre in science and technology.

The PM called on SEB to participate in Vietnam’s financial market and study the possibility of investing in and restructuring weak banks in the country./.