Stockholm (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on May 27 that Vietnamhopes that Swedish investors and businesses will cooperate with and invest in theSoutheast Asian nation.

Vietnam advocates institutional reform and economic restructuring, while alsopromoting the private sector and deep international integration, the PM toldthe Vietnam-Sweden business forum in Stockholm, held as part of his ongoingofficial visit to the European country.

He highlighted the history of their sound bilateral relations, saying that itpropelled the two-way to more than 1.5 billion USD.

Sweden ranks 34th among the 130 countries and territories investing in Vietnamwith 34 projects worth over 35,000 USD, he pointed out, adding that numerousmultinational groups from Sweden are operating in Vietnam like ABB, Ericsson,Volvo, and Electrolux.

Besides, young Vietnamese people are familiar with Sweden’s well-known brandnames and services like H&M, Spotify, Skype, and IKEA.

He briefed the participants on Vietnam’s economic development in 2018 with GDPgrowth of 7.1 percent, trade turnover hitting 500 billion USD, including 250billion USD in exports, and inflation kept under 4 percent.

Vietnam has joined a series of new-generation free trade agreements and ispreparing to sign the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA) with the European Union.

PM Phuc expressed his wishes that the government and businesses of Sweden willsupport the EU’s early signing and ratification of the deal and the EU-VietnamInvestment Promotion Agreement (EVIPA) next month.

According to the PM, the pacts will serve as a firm foundation to promote tradebetween Vietnam and the EU, and Vietnam and Sweden in particular. Within theframework of the pacts, Vietnamese goods can access the EU distribution chain,and Swedish firms investing in Vietnam will be able to access the ASEAN market.

He hoped that via the forum, the two countries’ businesses would betterunderstand each other towards opportunities for connectivity and cooperation,thus contributing to elevating the Vietnam-Sweden relations to a new height.

Swedish PM Stefan Löfven, for his part, expressed his wish that the EU will signthe EVFTA with Vietnam soon, thereby promoting the competitiveness of bothcountries.

He spoke highly of Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements over the past twodecades.

The Swedish PM said the two countries’ firms are boasting great opportunities forcooperation, and Sweden has invented important solutions in smart citybuilding, 5G technology, public transport solutions, renewable energy and powergrid, IT and telecoms, air traffic flow management, waste treatment, andhealthcare technology.

Sweden is ready to cooperate with Vietnam, he said, affirming that thegovernment, people and businesses of Sweden want to further tighten relationswith Vietnam over the next 50 years.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam - Sweden diplomatic ties.

Also at the forum, the two PMs witness the signing of several cooperationdocuments between enterprises of Vietnam and Sweden, especially a tripartite cooperationproject between Vietnam’s NutiFood and Sweden’s Backahill and the cooperativeof milch cow raising farms Skånemejerier Ekonomisk Förening with the official operation of the dairy mill NutiFood Sweden AB. –VNA