The Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark and his wife were welcomed at a ceremony hosted by Madame Vo Thi Anh Xuan, Vice President of Vietnam, at the Presidential Palace. Photo: Danish Embassy to Vietnam

The Crown Prince reconfirmed Denmark's commitment to a robust bilateral relationship with Vietnam at the meetings. Denmark attaches great importance to Vietnam - as a bilateral partner and an increasingly significant actor in the global efforts against climate change.

In talks with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Frederik expressed his joy at returning to Vietnam, a country that the Danish royal family and the crown prince cherish.

He hails Vietnam's achievements, including impressive socio-economic development and international integration.

Crown Prince Frederik said that accompanying his visit to Vietnam are many giant Danish companies looking for opportunities to cooperate with Vietnamese businesses, especially in green growth, renewable energy, and efficient energy use.

The Crown Prince affirmed that Denmark shared with Vietnam the vision of sustainable development and expressed his impression of the country's efforts to meet its commitments to reduce emissions to zero by 2050.

He believes cooperation between the two countries still has numerous potentials to flourish in green growth and energy transition areas.

For his part, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc valued the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Denmark, which are at a very positive stage of development, especially in the fields of politics - diplomacy, trade - investment, environment, education - training, and people-to-people exchanges in the past.

The Danish Crown Prince in a courtesy meeting with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Photo: Danish Embassy to Vietnam

Phuc stressed that there was still ample room for the two sides to expand their cooperation and hoped that the Danish Royal Family and Government would continue to support the two sides' relationship. 

The State President called on Denmark to support Vietnam regarding expertise, technology, and funding in implementing climate commitments.

On the other hand, Phuc believes that Danish companies should boost their investments and do business in Vietnam in fields where Denmark has strengths, and Vietnam has needs, thus effectively taking advantage of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The two sides also agreed to expand cooperation in education and training, cultural exchange, and tourism to strengthen the friendship and mutual understanding between people, contributing to tightening the ties.

14 MOU inked between Vietnamese and Danish companies

The visit continued with the Grand Opening of the Denmark-Vietnam Sustainable Energy Summit, where the Crown Prince Couple, with some high-level representatives of the government of Vietnam, witnessed the signing of 14 Memorandum of Understanding between Danish and Vietnamese companies.

Offshore wind power and energy efficiency, which play a critical role in supporting Vietnam’s efforts to transition to a low-carbon economy, are also the two areas that Danish companies possess solid and well-proven solutions and technology.

Following the summit were the two seminars: "Exploring the role of Danish know-how and technology in building a wind industry in Vietnam’ and ‘Improving energy efficiency in the industry towards net zero emissions target by 2050". 

On the second day of the official visit, the Crown Prince will join a trade and investment promotion event between Danish and Vietnamese offshore wind power businesses and investors in Haiphong and visit the most prominent industrial port in northern Vietnam, which in the future could be powered by offshore wind energy.

He will also attend an Offshore Wind for Kids event at Ocean Dragon Beach (Haiphong), where kids can play with small-scale offshore wind turbines and learn various aspects of offshore wind energy.

On the same day, the Crown Princess will participate in the workshop "Build the Change" hosted by the LEGO Foundation in Ha Nam Province. Vietnamese children at the workshop will use LEGO® bricks and other creative materials to express their ideas & solutions for a greener world tomorrow.

The Crown Princess will also visit the Xuan Thanh cement plant, where Danish technology from FLSmidth plays a crucial role in saving up to 15% of energy consumption and enabling up to 80% substitution of fossil fuel for alternative fuels in the cement industry.

The official visit to Vietnam by The Crown Prince Couple to Vietnam is part of the 50th-anniversary celebration of diplomatic relations between Denmark and Vietnam, which has been delayed one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Danish Royal Family has close roots in Vietnam, as The late Prince spent several of his earliest and adolescent years in Vietnam.

The Crown Prince explores Hanoi The Crown Prince spent an afternoon strolling around the Hoan Kiem iconic lake of Hanoi, visiting Ngoc Son Temple, and enjoying Dong Ho folk paintings and traditional water puppet show. He learned about the Dong Ho painting’s origin and the unique materials used to create them, as well as printed a Dong Ho piece by himself under the guidance of a Vietnamese artist. The puppet show he enjoyed also tells of day-to-day living in rural Vietnam and stories of the harvest, fishing, and festivals, a representative from Thang Long puppet theater - where the show took place, told The Hanoi Times.