Vietnam, Sweden set sights on direct flights ‘soon’

Vietnam and Sweden should work together to launch direct flights between the two countries soon, senior officials said Tuesday.

In talks held with Swedish Minister for Infrastructure and Housing Andreas Carlson, Vietnam’s Transport Minister Nguyen Van Thang said the legal framework for direct flights was already available per an agreement signed between Vietnam and Scandinavian nations Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

However, no carriers have set up direct flights yet between Vietnam and Sweden, he noted.

Thang said Vietnam was preparing to approve the ASEAN-EU Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement (AE-CATA) to further open up the aviation market and facilitate carriers.

Therefore, Vietnam and Sweden can cooperate to launch direct flights soon in order to transform Vietnam into a gateway to Southeast Asia and Sweden into a gateway to Scandinavia, he added.

Concurring with his host, Carlson also emphasized that direct flights can boost bilateral trade and tourism. He also proposed further cooperation in flight management and seaport development.

The two ministers also discussed stronger cooperation in green growth. Minister Thang urged negotiations for early signing of a maritime cooperation agreement between the two countries to tap opportunities in seaport development, fleet growth, and vessel tracking systems.

Vietnam was striving to develop its long coastline of over 3,000 kilometers with 34 seaports under its green growth target, he said.

Swedish Minister Carlson met with Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha the same day and discussed trade-investment ties. Ha said potential sectors for strengthening bilateral cooperation were transportation, seaports, digitalization, telecommunications, aviation and green energy transition.

In another Tuesday meeting with Carlson, EVN general director Nguyen Anh Tuan urged the Swedish side to provide technologies and share experiences to help Vietnam with power grid upgrades, efficient power transmission and renewable energy (solar power, wind power, and pumped-storage hydropower) development.

In 2023, Vietnam-Sweden trade dropped 20.38% year-on-year to $1.29 billion, according to customs data. In the first quarter of 2024, the figure went up 9.4% year-on-year to over $360 million.

As of end-April 2024, Sweden was Vietnam’s 29th-biggest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) with 111 projects and the total registered capital of $742.7 million, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.