It has been 20 years since a speaker of the parliament visited Vietnam. Then, in 1995, the former Swedish Speaker Ms Birgitta Dahl was the first speaker from a Western country speaking at the National Assembly.
Mr Urban Ahlin is travelling with a delegation of six parliamentarians from four different political parties. Together they represent Sweden in two very important committees, the steering Committee on the WTO and the Committee on Middle East Questions.
Riksdag of Sweden
During his visit, Mr Urban Ahlin will undertake a broad range of engagements to discuss and promote Sweden’s cooperation with Vietnam in areas such as parliamentary exchange, economics and trade and higher education. He will hold talks with President of the National Assembly of Vietnam Mr Nguyen Sinh Hung followed by a courtesy visit to meet Prime Minister Mr Nguyen Tan Dung. While in Hanoi, he will also have meetings with Minister of Health Ms Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and Minister of Transport Mr Dinh La Thang respectively. Health and transport have been identified as two potential sectors of intensified business opportunities and technology transfer between Sweden and Vietnam.
Mr Urban Ahlin said he is delighted to visit Vietnam for the first time to attend the IPU-132 and to witness the prosperous development of what is considered to be a unique and special bilateral relationship. Sweden was the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam already in 1969.
“My visit serves to strengthen ties between our countries and our peoples and provide opportunities for mutual understanding of good parliamentary practices and contributing to the enhancement of trade flows, investment and technology transfers between Sweden and Vietnam” said Mr Ahlin prior to the visit.
He is also planning to participate in a field visit to ABB’s transformer factory in Bac Ninh province and join a campaign to raise public awareness about traffic safety. Outside his official programme, he would like to understand more about the Vietnamese culture by walking in the old quarters and try Hanoi’s Bún Chả.
