Prime Minister attends the signing ceremony of the first PPP cooperation agreement with WEF

Among the first activities at the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab attended the signing ceremony of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Agreement between Vietnam and WEF on developing a resilient Vietnamese economy for the future.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab. Photo: VNA

On the afternoon of January 18, 2017, the Government's high-level delegation led by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc began attending activities at the 47th WEF Conference in Davos, Switzerland.

The Prime Minister met with Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, worked with WEF President Klaus Schwab, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Tahehiko Nakao, Microsoft Corporation President Bradford Smith, attended a dialogue with several large corporations and met with leading news agencies.

During the meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the Austrian Chancellor, the two sides assessed that the relationship between the two countries has developed well; agreed to carry out activities to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2017, and soon hold a meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets with Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern. Photo: VNA

The Prime Minister asked Austria to recognize Vietnam’s market economy status; urge the EU to soon officially sign and ratify the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA); and support Vietnam’s candidacy for non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term.

At the meeting with the WEF President, the Prime Minister proposed that the WEF maintain the organization of the WEF Mekong Conference; support Vietnam in connecting with leading corporations and experts of the WEF, and provide policy advice in the fields of national competitiveness and high-tech agricultural development.

The WEF President highly appreciated Vietnam's role and development potential; wished to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam, especially under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

After the meeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab attended the signing ceremony of the Cooperation Agreement between Vietnam and WEF on developing a resilient Vietnamese economy for the future. Vietnam is the first country with which WEF has signed a cooperation agreement under the PPP model and hopes that this will be a “model” to be implemented with other countries in the future.

According to the agreement, WEF will support Vietnam in connecting with WEF's network of leading businesses and research experts; coordinate with Vietnam in research and policy advice in areas of interest to Vietnam such as economic restructuring, high-tech agricultural development, productivity, national competitiveness, climate change, etc.; and improve capacity through accepting Vietnamese officials to practice at WEF agencies and organizations.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets with President of the Asian Development Bank Tahehiko Nakao. Photo: VNA

On the same day, the Prime Minister met with President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Tahehiko Nakao.

The two sides agreed to promote the implementation of infrastructure projects, combat climate change, support economic restructuring, and reduce poverty in the 2016-2020 period, and coordinate with GMS countries to prepare well for the 6th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit in Vietnam. The Prime Minister asked the ADB to continue supporting the development of transport and energy infrastructure, simplify procedures, and facilitate trade and investment in Mekong subregion cooperation.

The Prime Minister invited the President and ADB leaders to attend the APEC High-Level Week in November 2017 in Da Nang and related APEC conferences in 2017 in Vietnam. ADB leaders expressed their desire for long-term strategic cooperation with Vietnam; committed to not having Vietnam pay off its debt quickly and to extend preferential credit with low interest rates to Vietnam until 2019; and support Vietnam in implementing projects within the GMS cooperation framework.

At the meeting with Microsoft Corporation Chairman Bradford Smith, the Prime Minister asked Microsoft Corporation to continue investing in Vietnam in association with high technology transfer; and invited the corporation's Chairman to attend the APEC Business Summit in November 2017 in Da Nang.

Microsoft Corporation wishes to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in the fields of cyber security, human resource training, and software industry development.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Microsoft Corporation President Bradford Smith (right in photo) expressed Microsoft's desire to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in many fields. Photo: VNA

Previously, on the morning of January 18 in Zurich, Switzerland, the Prime Minister had a working session with the Director of the Malik Institute (Germany) on cooperation in the field of improving state management and governance capacity; and visited a number of Swiss economic establishments to learn and share development experiences.

The WEF Davos Conference is the largest conference of the WEF, attracting the participation of many senior leaders of countries, major international organizations and leading corporations in the world. This year's WEF Davos Conference was attended by more than 3,000 delegates, including more than 40 senior leaders of countries and international organizations, many ministers and many leaders of large corporations, leading experts and scholars in the world.

This year's conference featured more than 400 discussion sessions around the theme of "Responsible Leadership and Action" to shape the agenda and policies of governments, international organizations and businesses in the context of complex and unpredictable world developments.

According to Chinhphu.vn