Vietnamese PM works with top Swedish firms to foster investment ties

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and Borje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

STOCKHOLM — Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính held working sessions with leading Swedish corporations, including Ericsson, H&M, SYRE, and AstraZeneca, in Stockholm on Friday to foster their investment and cooperation with Việt Nam, as part of his official visit to Sweden.

Meeting with the Vietnamese leader, Borje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson, stated that the business, founded in 1876, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company and one of the world’s leading telecom groups, particularly in the field of 5G network infrastructure.

Operating in Việt Nam since 1993, Ericsson has provided equipment and solutions for major telecom operators such as Viettel, VNPT, and MobiFone across all generations of mobile technology, including GSM, WCDMA, LTE, and 5G. Currently, Ericsson remains a key telecom equipment provider and a long-term partner of these leading Vietnamese carriers.

Ekholm showed his strong desire to continue cooperating with Việt Nam in deploying 5G technology, promoting digital transformation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution to support the Southeast Asian country’s economic growth and innovation.

Highly valuing Việt Nam’s commitment and PM Chính’s personal efforts in driving digital transformation, Ekholm noted that Việt Nam is among the first countries to successfully commercialise 5G, backed by highly capable telecom and technology enterprises. He affirmed that Ericsson will continue partnering with Vietnamese partners in talent exchange and 5G-related service deployment, and is prepared to collaborate on 6G initiatives in the future.

PM Chính appreciated Ericsson’s strong support and effective cooperation in developing digital infrastructure in Việt Nam, affirming the country's desire to strengthen and deepen its cooperation with Ericsson in the new development phase.

He highlighted that Việt Nam is undergoing a profound transformation in its institutional framework, governance, mindset, and vision, particularly in advancing science and technology, innovation, digital transformation and the development of the private economic sector.

Affirming that institutional bottlenecks have been resolved, the Vietnamese leader expressed his hope that Ericsson will expand its investment and cooperation in Việt Nam in a stronger, deeper, more comprehensive, and effective manner. He specifically called for accelerating partnership with Vietnamese companies such as Viettel, VNPT, and MobiFone, promoting healthy competition with other partners, and driving breakthrough development in the coming time.

PM Chính called on Ericsson to take the lead in piloting new initiatives in innovation and 6G research; support Việt Nam’s artificial intelligence (AI) development through data infrastructure building; strengthen technology transfer; and prioritise helping Vietnamese telecom and tech firms catch up, keep pace, and eventually take the lead in the years ahead.

PM Chính said he hopes that Ericsson will continue to be a good partner of Việt Nam in the next 50–100 years, grounded in shared studies, mutual benefits, risk sharing, and innovation-driven growth.

Ekholm pledged that Ericsson is fully prepared to help the country "leapfrog" in digitalisation while sidestepping common pitfalls.

Earlier the same day, the Vietnamese PM also held working sessions with executives of global fashion retailer H&M and its textile recycling subsidiary SYRE.

Susanna Campbell, Chairwoman of SYRE, introduced the company as a joint venture between H&M Group and tech investment firm Vargas, focused on building large-scale textile recycling hubs worldwide. Việt Nam, a strategic priority, has granted SYRE an investment license to construct a hi-tech polyester fabric recycling plant with an investment of nearly US$1 billion in Bình Định Province.

Adam Karlsson, CFO of H&M Group, noted that H&M has operated in Việt Nam since 2017, with 13 stores and plans to expand to over 20. Việt Nam has been a key sourcing market for nearly two decades, with H&M now partnering with 103 local factories that employ over 86,800 workers.

As H&M and SYRE look to scale up green investments in Việt Nam, they called on the PM to direct continued policy support, particularly in facilitating the import of raw materials for SYRE’s production. They also expressed their desire to transform Việt Nam’s textile industry toward a circular, sustainable model.

Congratulating H&M on its success in the Vietnamese market of 100 million people, Chính praised both companies for their pioneering work in building a global circular textile ecosystem, a vision aligned with Việt Nam’s development goals.

He encouraged SYRE to position Việt Nam as the world’s first hub for hi-tech, circular textile production, while urging both firms to share expertise, support regulatory frameworks, and prioritise locally sourced materials to bolster Việt Nam’s role as a global textile powerhouse.

The PM stressed the need for advanced technologies and certified sustainable materials to ensure environmental protection and the industry’s sustainable development.

Campbell and Karlsson expressed their appreciation for the PM’s guidance on the development of the SYRE project in Việt Nam. They affirmed their commitment to advancing the project in line with its stated goals, particularly in fostering circular economy and ensuring environmental sustainability, as directed by the Vietnamese leader.

At a meeting with President of AstraZeneca for the Nordic and Swedish markets Emelie Antoni, PM Chính acknowledged the company’s significant contributions to healthcare and pharmaceutical innovation, especially its vital support to Việt Nam during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He expressed Việt Nam’s willingness to grant immediate approval for AstraZeneca to invest in pharmaceutical and vaccine production plants in the country, transfer technology, employ Vietnamese workers, and supply medicines and vaccines to the domestic market of 100 million people as well as to the wider region, especially for cancer treatment, and for the prevention and treatment of diseases affecting women, children, and those caused by tropical pathogens.

Highlighting Việt Nam’s favourable policies on administrative procedures, clinical trials, and technology transfer, especially for new, hi-tech, and brand-name drugs, vaccines, and orphan drugs, PM Chính suggested AstraZeneca continue its support for enhancing the country’s response to non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

He also cleared up the company’s proposals regarding the acceleration of clinical trial approvals, early disease detection, and tailored policies for rare diseases, reiterating the government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for foreign investors under the principle of “harmonising benefits and sharing risks.”

Emelie Antoni noted that AstraZeneca has operated in Việt Nam since 1994 and was officially licensed in 2019 to establish AstraZeneca Việt Nam Co. Ltd., which now employs more than 700 staff nationwide.

She commended Việt Nam’s progress in transforming its healthcare system and reaffirmed the country as a strategic market of AstraZeneca. Antoni called for continued policy incentives for the pharmaceutical sector, particularly for rare diseases, and urged for faster clinical trial approval processes to facilitate more effective operations for AstraZeneca and other international pharmaceutical companies in Việt Nam. — VNS