Swiss President Guy Parmelin and his spouse Caroline Parmelin arrived in Hanoi on the morning of October 17, beginning a two-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam and his spouse.
The Swiss delegation was welcomed at Noi Bai International Airport by Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Vu Dai Thang and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang.
Over more than 55 years of trust-building and cooperation, Vietnam and Switzerland have maintained friendly relations while gradually expanding cooperation across a wide range of areas. In January 2025, the two countries upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Partnership, reflecting their intention to take relations into a new phase.
Switzerland is an important trade and investment partner of Vietnam in Europe. Bilateral trade exceeded 1 billion USD in 2025. Switzerland is also among the few Western European countries that continue to provide development cooperation assistance to Vietnam. The two countries regularly coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums.
According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Switzerland Chau Mai Anh, Parmelin’s visit comes at a particularly important time. The year 2026 marks the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Switzerland, while the two countries are implementing the Comprehensive Partnership framework established in January 2025.
The planned signing in Hanoi of a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association by its four members, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, is expected to become an important event for economic ties between Vietnam and Switzerland. The agreement will create conditions for greater investment, expanded cooperation and fuller use of the opportunities in both markets by businesses from the two countries.
In recent years, more Swiss companies have shown interest in the Vietnamese market. This is opening new opportunities for companies from both countries to seek partners and launch joint projects. Such cooperation will also help Vietnamese businesses gain access to science and technology and improve the quality of human resources in line with the country’s new development tasks.
Swiss Ambassador to Vietnam Thomas Gass said Parmelin’s official visit would be an important historic milestone, giving the two countries an opportunity to look back on their 55-year journey together and celebrate Vietnam’s economic and social development achievements.
Since 1971, Switzerland has maintained humanitarian-oriented international cooperation programmes with Vietnam. Over the past 15 years, bilateral ties have shifted strongly towards economic cooperation, helping Vietnam integrate more deeply into the global economy and strengthen its position and role on the international stage.
Sources: VietnamPlus / Vietnam News Agency
