"We Are Very Happy Here", Danish Ambassador

Vietnam is one of the biggest recipients of Danish ODA. Annually we disburse around US$65-70 million of ODA to Vietnam to support different development purposes. We support five sector programs in Vietnam in water and sanitation, fisheries, agriculture, infrastructure and environment.

 

On top of that we support the reform of the judiciary and   the public administration reforms. We are planning to get together with other donors to support the implementation of the anti-corruption law. We also have a number of minor projects. In this area, I just want to mention our program trying to alleviate the problems for people living with HIV/AIDS and domestic violence against women. We also have a special program to establish cooperation between Danish and Vietnamese companies . That program is very successful. Up to now there are more than 60 long-term collaborations between Danish and Vietnamese companies.

 

It is difficult to say which fields have been the most successful but the poverty reduction achievements Vietnam has made within a 10-year period, with its poverty rate decreasing from 58 percent of the population to less than 20 percent living in poverty is a huge success.

This decrease is impressive and we are happy with this achievement. We contributed to this achievement but I think it was very much because of the Vietnamese Government’s own efforts.

If I had to mention one sector where we have worked successfully with our Vietnamese friends and results have been remarkable, I would say the fisheries. Vietnam has reached an annual seafood export revenue of US$2.6 billion and when we started to work with Vietnam, this revenue was less than half a billion US dollars. Vietnamese companies were able to obtain access to European and American markets. 

 

I would quote what the Deputy Prime Minister said :" the EU’s anti-dumping measures against Vietnamese shoes would have negative impacts on European shoe consumers and the Vietnamese shoe industry. Denmark has always taken the view that anti-dumping program should be implemented with great caution because the implications can be very obstructive to trade".

 

Denmark, many years ago, was very much a shipbuilding nation. Therefore we have a lot of companies that are suppliers for the shipbuilding industry; paint, engines, fire equipment, everything that one needs to build a ship.

Now Vietnam is becoming, in our view, a new emerging shipbuilding nation. It is very obvious that Danish companies have a good opportunity to work and assist Vietnam in developing its shipbuilding industry.

You know Denmark is a seafaring nation. We have always been on the high seas and therefore we have a lot of shipbuilders. Danish shipbuilders are starting to place orders a Vietnamese shipyards. Vietnam’s shipbuilding sector is very strong and successful and this is a reason why so many companies have come and many other companies will continue to come to Vietnam.

 

I certainly think that the adoption of the two new laws, the Enterprise Law and the Common Investment Law, is a major step forward. Of course, we have to see how successfully the Common Investment Law is implemented. But these two laws are very important signals that Vietnam really wants to attract foreign investment.

 

I hope that Vietnam’s Common Investment Law will support foreign companies. And I hope Vietnam will implement banking reform. The Government is now developing a roadmap for the reform of the banking sector and if the reform is effectively implemented it will help attract more investment. It is necessary to continue the equitization process of State-owned companies. The Government should equitize more companies.

It is also very important to take effective actions to reduce and eliminate corruption. This is an issue the Government recognizes. The adoption of the new anti-corruption law by the National Assembly last year is very important. We hope that the Government will try to curb corruption because it is an extra cost for the poor and for both Vietnamese and foreign companies in Vietnam.

I would also mention creating a much better legal framework and giving individuals more rights so both companies and individuals can be sure that when they go to the legal system they will get a fair trial and fair treatment.

 

The Vietnamese press is doing a better job now of exposing corrupt behavior.This is very good that the press is given the freedom to expose this corruption because I think that this is one way of curbing it. Of course there are many other things to be done but it is very important that people who are intentionally corrupt know that they will be exposed and brought to court.

From a Danish point of view, corruption is just not acceptable and Danida has a policy of zero - tolerance for corruption.

 

The visit of the Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark to Vietnam in September 2006 is in response to the visit of the Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan to Denmark in November 2004. I think the Danish Deputy Prime Minister’s visit to Vietnam will have two main purposes: to hold political talks with the Vietnamese leadership and to promote economic and commercial relations between Danish and Vietnamese companies.

 

More than 20 companies are expected to accompany the Deputy Prime Minister when he visits Vietnam and I think that the visit will receive strong support from Danish companies. We must also take into account that we have already had two Danish business delegations coming to Vietnam this year.

 

I think our collaboration can be wide. Danish technology and know-how can assist Vietnam in certain areas including construction, shipbuilding, infrastructure, and also a possible collaboration on a container terminal.

 

Hanoi is extremely nice. It has a lot of characters. The people are extremely friendly and inspiring. We are very happy here. It is safe to walk around so I think Hanoi has a lot of qualities that many other cities in the world don’t have. Besides the traffic and the climate, I think Hanoi is a great place to live.