Photo: m.laodong.com.vn
Reporter: What were the most notable achievements in the bilateral relations in 2016? 2016 was a special year for us at the embassy because it marked the 45th year in the Vietnamese-Danish relations. There was a series of activities throughout the year to celebrate the anniversary, adding to our continued efforts in strengthening cooperation in various aspects.
In October, for example, Danish Foreign Minister visited Vietnam and met with Vietnamese high-level leaders. The visit resulted in many concrete initiatives for further cooperation, which will be incorporated into the joint partnership action plan for 2017-2018 that we develop with Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and line ministries.
We also held a special gala performance at Hanoi Opera House, where we brought Danish and Vietnamese artists together on the stage creating a spectacular show. We organized a writing and photo competition where young Vietnamese showed their understanding of Denmark, and engaged in activities covering a wide range of areas, from health care, art in education, trade and investment promotion, legislative experience sharing, and green growth promotion. Finally, I should mention that in 2016 our trade and investment values reached the highest level to date, and our people-to-people exchange increased due to a substantial increase in number of visitors from Denmark to Vietnam and vice versa.
Reporter: Since the two countries established the Comprehensive Partnership in 2013, bilateral trade and investment ties have been significantly improved and there are more potentials to explore and fulfill. In the future, what will the Danish Embassy do to further promote the implementation of the Agreement that both sides already signed?
As you could see from our activities last year, there is a strong focus on many areas of cooperation included in the Comprehensive Partnership Agreement. In terms of trade alone, our bilateral trade has been growing rapidly with Vietnamese export to Denmark in 2015 increasing by 20 per cent compared to 2014; and our export to Vietnam has become the highest export per capita among the EU-countries.
Of course, the Agreement covers much broader cooperation that is beyond trade and investment. We expect to continue our support for agriculture, food safety, education, health, green investment, and initiate new support to energy planning. We also have a lot of interests in exploring new potential areas of cooperation, such as tourism and the maritime area. We plan to continue our political consultations, high-level visits, joint-governmental committees, etc. as some of the ways to advance cooperation in these areas.
At the same time, we wish to continue our support to Vietnam in building a more innovative and knowledge-based economy and society.
Reporter: In addition, education and training is another field of priority in the bilateral relations. What are your assessments of the prospect of cooperation in this field in the coming time?
Denmark has given cooperation in education a high priority for many years. The 3rd MOU between ministries of education in our two countries has just been signed by Vietnam, and pays tribute to this long history of cooperation. Furthermore, in 2015 Denmark assigned a Counsellor on Education to the Danish Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam and Denmark has decided to launch a joint education and training project focusing on vocational education and training. The project was launched on January 17th in Hanoi, and will for the coming two years focus on developing vocational education and training in selected key sectors in Vietnam.
Education cooperation is however much broader than that. An example is in-service training, which will support 8 key government staff to go to the University of Copenhagen for a 3 month course with a focus on food safety. That initiative is linked to another area of high priority for cooperation between Vietnam and Denmark, which is food safety. A specialist counsellor in this field was also assigned to the Danish Embassy in 2015, covering food as well as green growth.
Reporter: You’re staying in Vietnam during this Tet holiday. This is surely not your first Tet experience as you were also posted in Vietnam before. Can you share your thoughts and feelings of Tet?
That’s true. This is my second Tet during my posting to Vietnam as Ambassador. I enjoy the spirit that comes before and during this special holiday. For example, when I see people carrying Kumquat and Cherry Blossom trees on their motorbike, I know it’s time for Vietnamese people to prepare for Tet. It’s very similar to the busy streets and shops we have in Denmark before Christmas, where everyone also spends their spare time to decorate their houses and prepare food and presents. I especially like the quiet atmosphere on the first few days of the new year, because it shows me a very different face of Hanoi. I do hope that no matter how busy you are, Tet will continue to be a time to slow down and focus our attention on family and take the rest everyone deserves after a long year of hard working.
Reporter: Thank you very much./.