Prime Minister invites Swedish firms to invest in Vietnam's technology infrastructure, renewable energy

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh says he hopes Swedish companies will continue to expand their investment in Vietnam's information technology infrastructure, especially in remote areas.

Chinh is on an official visit to Sweden. At a Thursday meeting with leaders of major economic groups in the northern European country, the Prime Minister said Vietnam prioritizes cooperation with partners which have high technology levels, traditional friendship, and great trust like Swedish enterprises.

In response, Swedish corporate representatives said that in addition to the IT sector, they are interested in production of clean electricity and development of transmission systems in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese cabinet leader replied that Swedish businesses have great opportunities to invest in Vietnam in these fields.

Vietnam has issued the amended Electricity Law and the adjusted Power Plan VIII with a focus on promoting the development of renewable energy.

Accordingly, the proportion of renewable energy sources will reach 28-36% by 2030 and 74-75% by 2050 (excluding hydropower). Solar power is expected to reach a total capacity of 46,459-73,416 MW by the end of 2030. The figure for onshore and nearshore wind power is 26,066-38,029 MW by 2030.

Vietnam is also proactively participating the ASEAN power grid, initially supplying clean electricity to Malaysia and Singapore, the Prime Minister added.

At the meeting, representatives of Swedish enterprises also discussed limitations in administrative procedures and decision-making processes for investment projects in Vietnam.

In response, Prime Minister Chinh stressed that the country is synchronously implementing major strategies to turn the situation around and remove institutional bottlenecks in 2025.

In particular, Vietnam has carried out a "revolution" in its reshuffle of the administrative apparatus, changing from "passive" to "creative and proactive" in serving people and businesses. At least 30% of business conditions, time to handle administrative procedures, and compliance costs will be cut.

Vietnam has established a One-Stop Investment Portal and a National Legal Portal to handle procedures online to reduce time, costs, and inconvenience for people and businesses. Therefore, PM Chinh said he believes that the concerns of Swedish businesses will soon be resolved.

"In the coming time, businesses will feel a new way of doing things, a new atmosphere, and changes in Vietnam towards creating more favorable conditions for investors so that both sides can win," he added.

Sweden was the first European country to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam on January 11, 1969. Two-way trade turnover reached $1.48 billion in 2024.

The European country ranked 29th out of 149 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 111 valid projects and over $743 million in registered investment capital.

More than 70 Swedish companies are operating in the Southeast Asian country, such as Ericsson, ABB, IKEA, Electrolux, Volvo, and H&M.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese firms' investment in Sweden is modest, with only three projects with total investment capital of nearly $1 million.

Also on Thursday, in Stockholm, PM Pham Minh Chinh and Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa co-chaired a Vietnam-Sweden business forum themed "Green transformation, digital transformation, innovation".

At the forum, agencies and businesses of the two countries exchanged cooperation documents, with the witness of the two leaders.

- An agreement between Vietnam Maritime University and Sweden's World Maritime University to exchange staff, lecturers and students; coordinate in scientific research; and cooperate in organizing conferences and seminars; among other activities.

- Binh Dinh provincial People's Committee granted an investment registration certificate to Sweden’s leading textile manufacturer Syre for a $1 billion polyester fabric recycling complex. The project, designed to have a capacity of up to 250,000 tons per year, is expected to become operational by the end of 2028.

- A funding agreement between Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation and Swedfund for a project to study the possibility of deploying and integrating a wide area information management (SWIM) system and a remote air traffic control station in Vietnam (pictured below).

- A flexible codeshare agreement between Vietnam Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines, with an aim to expand the two airlines' flight networks and enhance the experience for passengers traveling between Vietnam and Scandinavia (pictured below)

- A cooperation agreement on research and development of AI technology solutions between FPT Corporation and WARA Media & Language - an AI research ecosystem of Sweden's largest private research organization (pictured blow).