Less than a month after Vietnam and Denmark declared a Green Strategic Partnership to complement tightened cooperation on climate change, environment, energy, and green growth, Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan left Hanoi for an official visit to Copenhagen. 

Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and Danish Crown Prince Frederik were welcomed in Hanoi in November 2022. Photo: Nguyen Hong/Baoquocte

The three-day visit, which begins today [November 20] at the invitation of Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, would help Vietnam and Denmark concretize the green partnership in the context that the two countries celebrate the 10th anniversary of upgrading their relations to a comprehensive partnership.

The visit covers a wide range of specific and important activities and topics to carry out the leaders’ commitment to advancing cooperation in the green transition, Vietnamese Ambassador to Denmark Luong Thanh Nghi told local media ahead of the visit.

The Vietnamese Vice President’s visit comes a year after the visit of Danish Crown Prince Frederik in November 2022, which focused on green cooperation with the participation of nearly 40 leading Danish and Vietnamese businesses. During that visit, the companies signed 14 deals on energy, especially renewables.

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan will pay a courtesy call on Crown Prince Frederik, meet with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Speaker of the Folketing Søren Gade, attend the ceremony celebrating the 10th anniversary of the comprehensive partnership, work with some Danish businesses involved in green growth, and address the Vietnamese community in Denmark.

Apart from regional and global issues of mutual concern, the two countries’ leaders are scheduled to discuss measures for further friendship and new areas of cooperation for Vietnam’s sustainable development, the ambassador said.

Working with Danish companies has also strengthened Vietnam’s reputation for stability and favorability and increased the confidence of international companies, including Danish companies, in the country’s business climate that tends to attract green and high-quality investment projects.

The visit is anticipated to strengthen Vietnam’s position in addressing global environmental issues, green transition, and sustainable development, and enhance the comprehensive partnership.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the signed Vietnam-Denmark Green Strategic Partnership agreement. Photo: VGP

 A new chapter in relations 

Ambassador Luong Thanh Nghi said Vietnam-Denmark relations have made great strides over the past decade, with political trust built through the exchange of high-ranking visits. 

He highlighted the Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC), a partnership between a Danish public authority (DPA) and its Vietnamese partner ministries focusing on energy and environment, agriculture and agricultural products, health, education, statistics, and the Vietnam-Denmark Energy Partnership Program. 

The ambassador said the Green Strategic Partnership will enable the two countries to enter a new phase in their relations. 

According to the Embassy of Denmark in Hanoi, the Green Strategic Partnership is believed to support the materialization of the two countries’ endeavors to promote green transition and green growth, further global ambition on climate, and a socially just green transition that creates green jobs and avoids increasing inequality. It referred to the Green Strategic Partnership as the historic strategic ties between Vietnam and Denmark.

From 1993 to 2015, Denmark was one of the largest bilateral providers of Official Development Assistance (ODA), supporting Vietnam in its efforts to fight poverty and contributing to Vietnam’s remarkable achievements during its transformation from a poor country to a lower middle-income country with impressive socio-economic growth today.

In 2013, the two countries upgraded their relations to a comprehensive partnership – a full-fledged partnership encompassing political dialogue, trade and investment, green growth, energy, food safety, and culture, among others.

Since then, green transition and sustainability have always been at the forefront of all strategic cooperation programs in energy, health, food and agriculture, education, trade and investment.

Denmark considers Vietnam an important partner in a green strategic partnership.

The establishment of the Green Strategic Partnership has brought the already close and successful cooperation between Vietnam and Denmark to a new level.

The Green Strategic Partnership is a mutually beneficial arrangement to advance political cooperation, expand economic relations relevant to green growth, create jobs, and strengthen cooperation on addressing global challenges and solutions to green transition and climate change, with a focus on an ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“The Green Strategic Partnership will focus on addressing issues of national as well as international importance to Vietnam and on shifting efforts towards greater engagement in green technologies and sustainable practices,” said the Danish Ambassador in Vietnam, Nicolai Prytz.

He said the two countries have full confidence in the success of this partnership as our two countries share many common challenges and the same level of ambition and commitment. “Here, Denmark can contribute with experience, knowledge, technology and green solutions. It is also the hope of the Danish government that our Green Strategic Partnership with Vietnam can serve as an inspiration and be a role model for bilateral North-South cooperation.”

An action plan of the Green Strategic Partnership with concrete actions, outlined by the two parties at a later stage, will further enhance knowledge and best practices exchange, strengthen capacity building, and promote technology transfer in the ongoing strategic cooperation programs in various sectors.