President Nguyen Xuan Phuc addresses a Vietnam-Switzerland Business Forum co-chaired with his Swiss counterpart Guy Parmelin in Bern on November 26, 2021. (Photo: VNA)

President Phuc, who co-chaired a Vietnam-Switzerland Business Forum in Bern on Friday with his Swiss counterpart Guy Parmelin, briefed Swiss investors on potential and investment opportunities in Vietnam, saying that Vietnam has changed from merely attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) capital to cooperating with foreign investors in the spirit of equality and mutual development and benefit.

He underlined Vietnam’s macroeconomic stability, adding that the country has joined 15 trade agreements, including large-scale and high-standard deals such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Vietnam-EU FTA.                      

“Our current bilateral trade of merely 1 billion USD and investment totaling 2 billion USD fail to reflect our cooperation potential, given the fact that Vietnam is an economy with nearly 100 million people and total trade value estimated at 600 billion USD,” said President Phuc.

Swiss President Parmelin highlighted the huge potential for stronger cooperation between the two countries, and the necessity to have new cooperation frameworks to encourage Swiss businesses to invest in Vietnam.