Swiss, Vietnamese leaders meet

09:44' 14/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – A Vietnamese delegation led by Vice State President Truong My Hoa met Switzerland's President of the National Council Christine Egerszegi Obrist and President of the Council of States Peter Bieri, in Bern on June 12. The Swiss leaders told Hoa that their government would continue to aid Vietnam's efforts in building a sustainable economy and fulfilling the Southeast Asian country's Millennium Development Goals through their official development assistance (ODA) programmes. While agreeing with the assessment, Vice President Hoa went on to emphasise the need to ratchet up cooperation between the Vietnamese and Swiss parliaments in order to consolidate long-term ties between the two countries. During the same day, Hoa also met with her Swiss counterpart, Pascal Couchepin, and the Minister of Economic Affairs, Doris Leuthard. The Vietnamese stateswoman said the her country was grateful for the vote of confidence from the Swiss government by providing aid for Vietnam’s socio-economic development. Her counterpart pledged continued assistance in the areas of finance and banking and stated his administration's desire to support Vietnam’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-2009 term. Minister Leuthard also relayed the Swiss position of continued support for Vietnam in the areas of poverty reduction, health and education, finance, banking system reforms, tourism development, preservation of historical relics and environmental protection. (Source: VNA)