Villy Søvndal, speaking in an interview on Wednesday while he was visiting HCMC as the first leg of his Vietnam trip, said, “Except for bureaucracy, which is better than five years ago, Vietnam is moving the right way.”

He cautioned that many other countries are competing with Vietnam to attract foreign investment but said, “Vietnam is a good country to do business.”

The FM, citing a Danish fruit processing firm he visited on Wednesday morning, said Vietnam’s business climate is improving.

Sometimes Danish business has problems with bureaucracy but things are changing for the better, he added. “They’re hopeful of doing business here.”

FM Søvndal, who Wednesday night left HCMC for Hanoi where he will be meeting with Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh, Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong, and a National Assembly vice chairperson, said he would meet a lot of Danish firms in HCMC on Wednesday afternoon to advise them to make use of the possibilities offered by Vietnam.

Denmark is a long-time development assistance donor of Vietnam, especially in the areas of fisheries, agriculture, green growth, climate change and governance.

But Danish-Vietnamese relations are changing from aid to trade, thus presenting business and investment opportunities for Danish companies.

The minister stressed there are no issues remaining to be solved in bilateral relations following Denmark’s brief suspension last year of funding for three climate change projects in Vietnam over suspected irregularities. “We have an excellent bilateral relationship.”

Commenting on the role of Vietnam in the region and the world, he highlighted Vietnam’s economic gains and its clout as an increasingly strong political player in the region and elsewhere in the world. 

Vietnam was on the United Nations Security Council in the 2008-2009 term and held the ASEAN presidency in 2010, he said. “Vietnam on the international scene is a more and more important country.”

This explains why Denmark and Vietnam want to deepen their bilateral ties. And this is also evident in the forthcoming Denmark visit by Vietnam’s State President Truong Tan Sang.

FM Søvndal said he is here to make preparations for the President’s visit, which is expected to take in September this year.

During President Sang’s visit to Denmark, the two countries would thrash out a frame on multiple areas where they could cooperate to bring bilateral relations to a higher plane, he said.