Nam said with the most developedhealth care system in North Europe, Sweden is the most promising partner tohelp Can Tho address challenges regarding infrastructure, equipment, humanresources, overcrowding in hospitals and health care quality in rural areas.
He expressed his hope that Swedenwould partner with Can Tho to build an international hospital system,particularly a children’s hospital equipped with smart technology to serve localresidents and those in the southwest and several Cambodian border localities.
In transport, Can Tho wants toacquire Sweden’s experience in infrastructure planning and operating publictransport, traffic accident prevention, clean and eco-friendly energy, advancedtechnology application and urban transport, he said.
As Can Tho boasts a maritimetransport network passing through six countries, it hopes to receive Sweden’scooperation in upgrading seaports and logistics services, turning the city intoa logistics “capital” in the region, he stated.
In cultural exchange, the hostexpressed wish to partner with Sweden to organise annual cultural exchanges,contributing to popularising Vietnam, its country and people, especially theMekong Delta, to the world, as well as Sweden’s European culture to the westernVietnam.
As part of celebrations for the50th anniversary of the Vietnam-Sweden diplomatic ties in 2019, Can Tho wantsto closely work with Sweden to organise a cultural-art exchange on the regionalscale, he said.
Hogberg, for his part, saidSweden wishes to lift bilateral ties to a greater height by further extendingtrade and investment, as well as developing projects in Vietnam’s key citiesand provinces, especially those in the south.
He lauded Can Tho as an economichub in the Mekong Delta and the most potential locality in the region, in whicha number of big Sweden business groups want to invest.
According to him, the city hasthe biggest advantage in qualified skilled workforce and convenient transportinfrastructure in road, waterway and airway, serving as an important area inregional and international transport. Can Tho has also made it attractive bypolicies in education, health care, tourism, bio-technology, informationtechnology and logistics services.
The guest agreed with his host’sproposals and pledged to work with units concerned to sign a detailedcooperation agreement as soon as possible.
Two-way trade rose to 1.205billion USD in 2016 from 1.178 billion USD in 2015, of which Vietnam posted atrade surplus of nearly 624 million USD. A number of Sweden’s major economicgroups made early presence in Vietnam such as Ericsson, ABB and Electrolux.-VNA