At the meeting, Vice Chairman Nguyen Thuc Hien was happy to welcome Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Ann Måwe and her delegation to the Mekong city of Can Tho. He said Can Tho’s exports to Sweden hit 1.43 million USD in 2022, mostly rice, aquatic products, apparel, farm produce, and processed agricultural products. In the first half of this year, the figure hit 410,000 USD.

Can Tho city also wishes to exploit opportunities from the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to propel bilateral trade ties, particularly in fields of strength such as rice, fruits, and aquatic products, he said.

Vice Chairman Nguyen Thuc Hien expressed his expectation that following the visit, Swedish partners will help promote the image of Can Tho and develop cooperation and investment with Can Tho city in fields of shared interest, especially in climate change response and green growth. Furthermore, he also hopes for Sweden’s support in the application of digital transformation and advanced technology to achieve efficient agricultural production, popularize the city's potential, advantages, and investment attraction policies to Swedish businesses while providing information on Sweden's strengths, markets, and trade policies for Can Tho.

In addition, Vice Chairman Nguyen Thuc Hien also wishes to receive Swedish Ambassador Måwe’s support with online or direct supply-demand connections between Swedish importers and Can Tho's producers and exporters of rice, seafood, farm produce, and processed food. In education and training, he hopes that Sweden will increase scholarships for local excellent students in the city, and full scholarships for lecturers at universities and colleges to improve their knowledge and skills in the country.

At the working session

At the reception, Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Ann Måwe thanked Can Tho authorities for their warm welcome and highly appreciated the potential and development of Can Tho city in all aspects. Particularly, she congratulated Can Tho on ranking 19th in the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI).

During this trip to Can Tho City, Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Ann Måwe and her delegation visited Can Tho University and An Giang University and discussed with the students about climate change response and green growth. In addition, she said Sweden wants to learn about the business environment in the Mekong Delta and Can Tho city in particular. Specifically, Swedish businesses are interested in the Mekong Delta region and want to learn about projects on collecting wastes and pollutants that cause pollution and affect waterway traffic, in order to reduce pollution and create better waterway transportation conditions for the region.

According to her, to facilitate trade cooperation between Sweden and Can Tho in the near future, the Swedish Embassy will continue working with Swedish businesses to tackle difficulties when investing in Can Tho, as well as share information to help the Vietnamese firms facilitate exports to Sweden.