Vietnam and Switzerland continue to tighten development cooperation

Vietnam and Switzerland will continue to tighten development cooperation

On May 29, the Embassy of Switzerland hosted a landmark event celebrating 35 years of impactful development cooperation between Vietnam and Switzerland, and presented a cooperation agenda for the 2025-2028 period.

Officially opened by Swiss Ambassador Thomas Gass and Deputy Minister of Finance Cao Anh Tuan, the event brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including government representatives, development partners, implementing agencies, and beneficiaries.

Representatives of key partner ministries, including the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the State Bank of Vietnam, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) shared how the Swiss Economic Development Cooperation Programme had contributed to Vietnam's impressive economic achievements.

Looking ahead, the Swiss government will support Vietnam on its journey to a resilient high-income economy. For 2025-2028, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has allocated a budget of $50 million to support Vietnam. Since 2013, Vietnam has been a priority country for SECO's economic cooperation and development.

This four-year scheme will prioritise promoting sustainable trade and innovation, fostering sustainable public and private finance, and advancing climate-smart industrial and urban development.

Ambassador Gass stated, “Our new programme for 2025-2028 builds on a foundation of Swiss expertise and experience and reflects Switzerland's steadfast commitment to accompanying Vietnam on its journey to become a resilient high-income economy by 2045 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The priorities are fully aligned with Vietnam's development priorities, and it also contributes to the government leaders' plans for a new era.”

Deputy Minister Tuan proposed key contents for the two sides to continue to coordinate and boost cooperation in.

“The MoF proposed that SECO coordinate with the Department of Debt Management and Foreign Economic Relations to conduct a comprehensive review and assessment of the effectiveness of the programme as a basis for building the next phase practically and effectively, contributing more positively to the economic and social development of the country.”

"The MoF has agreed with SECO and Swiss partners to support the promotion of new areas of cooperation, such as green finance, capital market development, intellectual property, and sharing experiences in building an international financial centre. These are the areas that the prime ministers of the two countries agreed to strengthen at the Davos Summit," Tuan said.

Leaders of the MoF also asked SECO to continue to coordinate its technical assistance projects involving public finance reform, improving public debt management capacity, green transformation, and digital transformation in the financial sector, towards a modern, transparent, and sustainable public finance model.

“In the process of building and implementing the cooperation programme, we hope that Switzerland will continue to give Vietnam more advice on managing, coordinating, and implementing these cooperation activities,” Tuan said.

Since 1991, Switzerland's official development assistance to Vietnam has evolved from a mandate of poverty reduction to one of fostering sustainable economic development. CHF 650 million ($800 million) has been committed over the last 34 years. The event underscored the depth and continuity of the long-standing cooperation between Switzerland and Vietnam, which has evolved over three decades to support Vietnam's economic transformation, institutional strengthening, and sustainable development. It also offered a moment to reflect on and proudly celebrate the trust, shared goals, and concrete results that have shaped the close cooperation between the two countries.

Vietnam receives $5 million in Swiss aid to elevate fintech sector A Swiss-funded project, backed by a $5 million grant, aims to enhance Vietnam's fintech and digital banking sectors.

Singapore partners with Japan, UK, Switzerland on digital asset initiative Regulators in Singapore, Japan, the UK and Switzerland are asset planning tokenisation tests for fixed income, foreign exchange and asset management products, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) reported on October 30.

Swiss company staBOO signs MoU with Sao Thai Duong to build bamboo processing factory On January 17, staBOO Holdings AG, underSwitzerland's BARD AG, signed an MoU with Sao Thai Duong Investment JSC to build a bamboo processing plant in the central province of Thanh Hoa.

England turnaround penalty torment to reach Euros semis England's history at major tournaments is littered with penalty pain but they put that tortured past behind them to beat Switzerland and reach the semi-finals of Euro 2024.

Switzerland sends experts and over $1 million to aid Vietnam's typhoon relief efforts The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is deploying six specialists from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit to Vietnam and allocating $1.17 million to assist people affected by Typhoon Yagi.