President of the Vietnam Journalists Association Thuan Huu (Source: VNA)Geneva (VNA) – The Vietnamese Journalists Association (VJA) and the ForeignPress Association in Switzerland and Liechtenstein (APES) have agreed to extendthe two-year cooperation agreement they reached in late 2017.
Theconsensus was reached during a meeting between VJA President Thuan Huu and APES President Jean Musy as part of a VJAdelegation’s working visit to Switzerland from June 29-July 4.
Accordingly,the two sides will continue delegation exchange. In November 2017, an APESdelegation headed by its President Jean Musy paid the first-ever visit toVietnam.
Whilein Geneva, the Vietnamese journalists had a working session with Delegate toInternational Geneva Olivier Coutau, who briefed his guests on the history,politics and administrative system of the Geneva city and state.
Genevahouses the headquarters of the United Nations (UN) and 35 inter-governmentalorganisations, and diplomatic corps from 176 countries worldwide, he said.
TheVietnamese delegation also met with representatives from the Federal Departmentof Foreign Affairs and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs in Berne.
Theytalked about the relationship between Vietnam and Switzerland, includingbilateral trade and economic ties.
Economiccooperation is always a pillar of the bilateral relations since the twocountries set up diplomatic ties in 1971. In 2016, two-way trade reached 2billion Franc (roughly 2 billion USD), up 36 percent year-on-year.
Vietnamis Switzerland’s fourth largest trade partner in the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN).
With thepresence of more than 90 groups and companies like Nestle, Novatis, Roche andHolcim in Vietnam, Switzerland has become the country’s fourth largest Europeaninvestor.
Total Swissinvestment in Vietnam reached 2.4 billion USD, reflecting the increasinginterest of Swiss businesses in the Southeast Asian market.
Thetwo countries have thus far signed more than 30 bilateral cooperationagreements in economy. Currently, Switzerland is teaming up with three othercountries in the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) area to negotiate thesigning of the Vietnam-EFTA Free Trade Agreement. The latest round of talkstook place last May.
At a meeting with the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation,the Vietnamese journalists were briefed on Switzerland’s vocational trainingand education.
During their visit, the VJA delegation also visited theheadquarters of the UN and landscapes in Geneva, Lausanne and Berne.-VNA
VNA
