Deputy PM active at 50th meeting of WEF in Davos

ABO/NDO – Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh led a Vietnamese delegation to participate in many activities within the framework of the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on January 21.

Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh and President of the WEF Borge Brende. (Photo: VGP)

The Deputy PM was a keynote speaker at the plenary session on strategic prospects for the ASEAN, attended other important sessions of the meeting and met with leaders from many countries, international organisations and global leading groups.

At the plenary session, Binh highlighted the theme and priorities of the ASEAN and Vietnam as ASEAN Chair in 2020. The Deputy PM also affirmed that as ASEAN Chair in 2020 and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-2021, Vietnam will strengthen cooperation between ASEAN and the UN to actively contribute to regional and international peace and security, promote the realisation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and boost ASEAN’s role and voice at other important multilateral forums, thereby helping to uphold multilateralism and international cooperation in regional and global issues.

He also met with President of the WEF Borge Brende and attended a ceremony to announce the conclusion of the Vietnam-WEF cooperation agreement.

Binh told the WEF president that Vietnam highly appreciated the WEF’s coordination with Vietnam to implement successfully the bilateral cooperation agreement.

He emphasised that the implementation of the deal since its signing on the occasion of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s attendance at the WEF Davos in 2017, has brought practical outcomes in the fields of infrastructure, agriculture, education, and health care.

The agreement could be a model for the WEF to consider expanding cooperation with other ASEAN member states, he said.

Borge Brende said the WEF wants to continue cooperation with Vietnam in specific activities, as well as in early launching a Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) centre in the country to promote research and application of the 4IR.

He handed over to Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh the conclusion report of the bilateral cooperation agreement with many recommendations for Vietnam on socio-economic development.

The same day, Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh met with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, President of the European Parliament (EP) David Sassoli, and President of the Swiss National Council Isabelle Moret.

The Prime Minister of Croatia, the country holding EU Presidency in the first six months of this year, and the EP President affirmed their support for the early ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) to bring benefits for the two sides’ business communities and peoples.

They agreed to strengthen coordination with Vietnam to promote ASEAN-EU cooperation during 2020 when Vietnam is the Chair of ASEAN.

In the meeting with President of the Swiss National Council Isabelle Moret, Deputy PM Binh praised the Swiss parliament’s support for and contributions to the development of the Vietnam - Switzerland ties, and conveyed NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan’s invitation to Moret to visit Vietnam in the time ahead.

He also informed Moret of the outcomes of his talks with Vice President and Head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research of Switzerland Guy Parmelin as well as the agreed measures to boost the bilateral relations.

Meanwhile, Moret spoke highly of Vietnam’s potential and position in the international arena, expressing her belief that Vietnam and Switzerland need to further the cooperative relations and traditional friendship.

She shared Vietnam’s call for organising practical activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries, and affirmed that the Federal Assembly of Switzerland will endorse and make positive contributions to develop the cooperative ties into a deeper and more effective fashion.

Deputy PM Binh asked the Swiss parliament to continue support for the cooperative programmes with Vietnam, as well as back the negotiations on the free trade deal between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to benefit both nations.

During his stay, Deputy PM Binh also held meetings with top executives of many leading corporations like Standard Chartered, P&G Group, Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Carlsberg, Hyosung and Spring Studios.

He took the occasion to affirm the Vietnamese Government’s consistent policy in improving business climate and competitive edge through completing the market mechanism, renewing growth model, restructuring the economy, engaging in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and promoting global integration.

(Source: NDO)