The delegation's visit and work took place at a time of special significance when the two countries are celebrating the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Switzerland, and at the same time following the historic milestone of the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) which has just been officially signed.

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Hoang Minh Cuong emphasized that Hai Phong currently holds the position of the leading industrial, seaport and logistics center of the North, maintaining double-digit economic growth for 11 consecutive years and having the third largest economic scale in the country. Cumulatively, the city has attracted over 53.2 billion USD of foreign direct investment from 41 countries and territories.

Clarifying more about the long-term development strategy of Hai Phong city, the Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee affirmed that the city's overall orientation is to build a modern, smart and sustainable industrial, seaport and logistics ecosystem, resolutely prioritizing new generation FDI flows with high quality and high technology content. The city is making the most of the advantages of the Lach Huyen international gateway port system, a chain of large-scale industrial parks and the pilot mechanism of the Free Trade Zone issued by the National Assembly to create a new breakthrough impulse. Meanwhile, Swiss businesses possess a wealth of experience and leading strengths in precision mechanics, microelectronics technology, clean energy and finance - industries in Hai Phong are giving top priority to attract investment. Therefore, the potential for cooperation between the two sides is still very large, especially in 6 main pillars including seaports, logistics services, processing and manufacturing industries, energy, finance and green economy. The Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee hopes that the two sides will soon agree on a connection point to quickly concretize survey programs into practical investment projects.

On the side of the delegation, Mr. Ivo Sieber and representatives of Swiss organizations and businesses expressed their deep impression of the strong transformation of transport infrastructure and business investment environment in the port city. With bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and EFTA reaching about 5.5 billion USD per year, The delegation believes that the newly signed Free Trade Agreement will be a lever to strongly promote a new wave of investment.

At the meeting, leaders of Norsk Solar Company presented the steps to implement the green economy development cooperation agreement signed with Hai Phong from 2023, and highly appreciated the breakthrough amendments in Vietnam's Power Plan VIII to help strengthen the confidence of international energy investors. Sharing the same opinion, the representative of the Swiss-Asian Business Association affirmed that Hai Phong's industrial park development model, economic zone and free trade zone orientation are typical models in the region, committing that the Association will promote the role of a bridge to support Swiss small and medium-sized enterprises to increase their presence in the city...

In the work program, the Swiss business delegation will directly go to the field survey in the area of Lach Huyen international deep-water port and Trang Due Industrial Park to explore opportunities to link the supply chain, complete the investment plan for high-tech projects in the near future./.