A Danish delegation headed by the Danish Crown Couple, Prince Frederik and Princess Mary will visit Vietnam on November 1-2 to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of Danish-Vietnamese diplomatic relations and promote green solutions.

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess and the accompanying Danish business delegation will meet with leaders of the Vietnamese State and Government, as well as local enterprises.

Wind energy and energy efficiency will be the focus of their visit whose agenda includes debates on green transition and visits to local energy projects. On energy, Denmark and Danish businesses are supporting Vietnam’s green transition.

Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary. Photo: EPA

Denmark and Vietnam share a close bilateral relationship, which is guided by a Comprehensive Partnership Agreement from 2013. Further, in 2017 Denmark and Vietnam signed a Danish Energy Partnership Program that supports Vietnam’s ambitions to live up to the Paris Agreement.

The two countries’ cooperation relationship is expected to be further enhanced with the signing of the 2022 Green Strategic Cooperation Agreement.

With a stated political goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050 and a coastline of over 3,200 km, there is huge potential in Vietnam for renewable energy, especially onshore and offshore wind power. The same goes for energy efficiency since the industry and construction sectors are the two largest energy consumers in Vietnam at 49% and 15%, respectively.

Vietnam is also an attractive market for Danish companies. Even during the pandemic, Vietnam's GDP grew by 2-3% annually, and it is expected to go back to the normal 4-7% range in 2022.

The Danish Royal family has historic ties to Vietnam. The father of the Crown Prince lived his first years in Hanoi and visited Vietnam together with HM the Queen, the Crown Prince, and Crown Princess in 2009 during an official state visit.

The Crown Prince visited Vietnam again in 2011 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations. This year's trade promotion marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, which was originally meant to have been held in 2021.