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Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse arrive at the Oslo Gardermoen Airport, beginning his official trip to Norway

 

The Vietnamese PM and his entourage were welcomed at the Oslo Gardermoen Airport by State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway Marianne Hagen, Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam Grete Lochen, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Norway Nguyen Hong Cuong, among other Norwegian and Vietnamese officials.

The trip took place as the two nations are about to celebrate the 50th establishment anniversary of their diplomatic relations (1971 – 2021). This is the first official visit by a Vietnamese PM to Norway since 1999, aiming to reaffirm the strong bilateral ties as well as boost friendship and cooperation toward effectiveness and practical outcomes.

As scheduled, PM Phuc will hold talks and meet a number of Norwegian leaders, attend the Vietnam – Norway business forum, and visits and receive representatives of some Norwegian enterprises.

Prior to his arrival in Norway, Phuc paid a four-day official visit to Russia, during which he held talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, and witnessed the signing of 14 cooperation pacts between the two nations in economy, trade, environmental protection, renewable energy, culture, and tourism, among others. The two leaders also attended the opening ceremony of the Vietnam Year in Russia and Russia Year in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese government leader also held meetings with President Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin, and Chairwoman of the Federation Council (upper house) of the Federal Assembly of Russia Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko.

PM Phuc and Russian Deputy PM Maxim Akimov attended and delivered their speeches at the Vietnam – Russia Business Forum.

Phuc also held receptions for representatives of the association of Russian veterans who once fought in Vietnam and the Vietnam – Russia Friendship Association, the Vietnamese Embassy, and Kaspersky Lab company. He attended a ceremony marking the inaugural operation of the Vietnamese-invested T&T Russia Co. Ltd and another celebrating 15 years of the opening of the Hanoi – Moscow direct air route.

 

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Deputy Foreign Minister of Norway Marianne Hagen (2nd R) and Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam Grete Lochen (R) welcome Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse (L) at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen

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Staff of the Vietnamese Embassy and expatriates in Norway welcome Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen

 

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Vietnam, Norway boost economic, trade partnership

 

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Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh

 

 

The economic, trade and investment relations between Vietnam and Norway have reaped positive outcomes in recent time, according to Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

Norway is one of the economic and trade partners of Vietnam in the North European region, he said in a recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to Norway from May 24-26.

Two-way trade exceeded 400 million USD in 2018, representing a year-on-year rise of 13.67 percent, he said, adding that Vietnam mainly exported garment-textile, footwear, cashew nut, and wood and timber products while importing aquatic products, machinery, equipment, and other spare parts from the market.

According to Statistics Norway, Vietnam, the Philippines and China are the three Asian countries that have maintained stable export growth in the North European nation.

In the first four months of 2019, trade between Vietnam and Norway surpassed 150 million USD, up 14.4 percent year-on-year.

As of April 2019, Norway had 42 direct investment projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of nearly 164 million USD, ranking 41st among the 131 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

Minister Anh suggested encouraging Norwegian businesses to partner with Vietnamese firms in the fields of maritime, shipbuilding, aquaculture, renewable energy, and tourism.

At present, Norwegian enterprises are particularly interested in cooperation in developing aquaculture and processing aquatic products in Vietnam, he said.

They are also interested in renewable energy, oil and gas production projects, he added.

To boost goods exports to Norway, the Minister advised local businesses to focus on improving the quality of products and studying the market to address trade and technical barriers as well as meet strict requirements on the traceability of products, social responsibility, environmental protection, and business ethics.

He also suggested increasing meetings with distributors and large-scale supermarkets to set up long-term partnerships and promote the export of Vietnamese goods.

 

 

VNA