On 18 September 2013, the Swiss Embassy together with the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) launched Switzerland’s new Development Cooperation Strategy for 2013-2016 with Vietnam, in presence of a wide range of partners. Switzerland will substantially increase its grant budget to CHF 123 million over the next 4 years and shift its programme towards more economic development cooperation.
“Switzerland is a long-standing, devoted and I believe also sophisticated and efficient partner of Vietnam” said Mr Andrej Motyl, Ambassador of Switzerland in Vietnam. “Swiss Development Cooperation in Vietnam started in 1992 and has become a cornerstone in the relations between the two countries. In line with Vietnam’s aim to become an industrialized country by 2020 and its middle-income status, Switzerland plans a robust expansion of its economic development cooperation programme. Special emphasis will be given to support Vietnam, particularly small and medium enterprises, to produce higher-value products and services. Over the next 4 years, Switzerland will continue and gradually decrease its development program on poverty reduction.”
Mr Nguyen The Phuong, Vice Minister of MPI, applauded in his speech Switzerland’s decision to increase the total volume of its development grant budget and to shift the focus towards economic development cooperation.
Up to 2012, Switzerland contributed CHF 340 million (US$360 million) to Vietnam’s socio-economic development and reform agenda. Two Swiss Government Agencies, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, SDC, and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO, provide complementary technical and financial assistance to Vietnam.
Swiss Development Cooperation 2013-2016 will provide support in five main areas: sound economic framework conditions for inclusive and sustainable growth; productivity and competitiveness (also through better access to credit) of small and medium-sized enterprises; environmentally-friendly policies; local governance and citizen participation; and agriculture and food security.
Core fields of work are related to public financial management, the financial sector, sustainable trade promotion, labour and environmentally-friendly production and consumption, competition, access to finance, integrated urban planning as well as public administration reform, participatory planning, market access for poor rural households.
Nguyen Mai
Vietnamese
