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European RoyalsSweden

Crown Princess Couple of Sweden to visit Vietnam

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel are visiting Vietnam 6-8 May together with Ann Linde, the Minister of Foreign Trade.

The visit will embark on the 6th of May in Hanoi and end on the 8th of May in Ho Chi Minh City.

The reason for this visit is to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between Sweden and Vietnam. The Crown Princess Couple will attend the Sweden-Vietnam business summit and highlight the UN’s sustainability goals within Agenda 2030.

Vietnam has in recent years been attractive for Swedish companies because of its role in the consumer market. As an example, the electronic industry has seen a real expansion with special focus in the past years which is shown by Samsung, that currently produces 75 % of its smartphones in Vietnam.

The relationship between Sweden and Vietnam is a long one, and Sweden became the first Western country in 1969 that has established diplomatic relations with Vietnam. In the beginning, the focus was on development, but it has now changed to commercial. Sweden exports a huge amount of products to Vietnam, among others medical and engineering goods. There is great potential to grow in the export-import area especially so after the free trade agreement that is under negotiations is implemented. According to research, about 50 Swedish companies or those related to Sweden are presently in Vietnam.

As the middle-class grows in Vietnam, there seems to be a greater need for Swedish goods. The Vietnamese government at the same time invests a great deal into improving infrastructure, especially in the telecommunications, transport and manufacturing areas.

Business Sweden, the Swedish trade and invest council has been in Vietnam since 1999 and has been supporting Swedish companies in their growth on the market. They have built a large and successful circle of local business leaders and policymakers in order to be able to promote Swedish competition in the area.

On the press conference held in Hanoi 11th January, Swedish ambassador to Vietnam, Pereric Hogberg, said that a string of activities in 2019 would improve and support relations between the two countries. The official visit of the Crown Princess Couple will be a great part of this.