The upcoming state visit by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam and his spouse to Denmark from October 19-21 will open a new chapter in bilateral relations, Danish Ambassador to Vietnam Lina Gandløse Hansen said.
The visit will take place at the invitation of King Frederik X and Queen Mary. This year, Vietnam and Denmark celebrate the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations. It will be the second state visit by a leader of either country to the other.
The ambassador said the state visit will be an opportunity to honour the longstanding friendship between the two countries. Denmark and Vietnam also intend to strengthen their ties and deepen cooperation.
During the visit, the two sides will focus on trade and investment, green solutions, energy, innovation, education, sustainable food production, culture, and bilateral and international cooperation.
According to the diplomat, friendship between the two peoples is rooted in longstanding historical ties. The Danish royal family has a particular connection to Vietnam: Prince Henrik spent five years of his childhood in Hanoi.
Since diplomatic relations were established in 1971, cooperation between the two countries has steadily developed. Major milestones include the 2009 state visit to Vietnam by Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik, the establishment of a Comprehensive Partnership in 2013, and the 2022 visit to Vietnam by Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth, accompanied by a delegation of 35 businesses.
In 2023, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh announced the establishment of a Green Strategic Partnership, which became a framework for sustainable development cooperation.
Lina Gandløse Hansen said bilateral cooperation has also shifted from development assistance towards an equal and mutually beneficial trade and investment partnership. Between 1993 and 2015, Denmark provided Vietnam with 5.5 billion DKK, or 827.25 million USD, in official development assistance.
Government-level cooperation remains a major area of work in energy, food safety, healthcare, technical education and statistics.
Around 150 Danish companies currently operate in Vietnam, making Denmark the third-largest European investor in the country.
According to Statistics Denmark, bilateral trade reached 11.3 billion DKK in 2025. Vietnam became Denmark’s 40th-largest trading partner, while the potential for cooperation between the two economies remains.
Sources: VietnamPlus / Vietnam News Agency
