LookAtVietnam – The Foreign Ministry has announced that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will pay visits to Denmark, Hungary and Kazakhstan from September 14-19, 2009.

Over the years, Denmark has contributed around $1 billion in assistance to Vietnam. It gave $40 million in 2008 to help Vietnam prepare to combat climate change. The northern European nation ranks 22^nd among investors in Vietnam (about $400 million). There are about 12,000 Danish residents of Vietnamese origin.

Hungary regards Vietnam as a strategic partner in its official development assistance (ODA) policy. In 2008, Hungary granted Vietnam 45 million Euros (nearly $66 million) in loans for domestic improvement projects. Hungarian officials plan to provide an additional $100 million to build a cancer treatment center in Can Tho.

Vietnam and Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic, established diplomatic ties in 1992 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The two countries have a good political relationship. Kazakhstan supported Vietnam’s bid for election to the UN Security Council during 2008-2009. Both nations are developing market economies, however economic cooperation between the two countries is modest.

Vietnam hopes to expand cooperation in the strategic fields of oil, gas and mining, while Kazakhstan plans to employ Vietnamese workers.

X. Linh