One of the urgent demands in the world today was to generate bigger democratisation in global governance, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Davos yesterday.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung meets Swiss President Doris Leuthard on his working visit to Switzerland.

He also said the G20 was a step forward, elaborating that the group had succeeded in co-ordinating global macro-economic policy, helping the world recover from the economic and financial crisis.

“To increase the representation of the G20, I think that it is important to institutionalise the participation of regional organisations like ASEAN and other international financial and monetary institutions in the G20,” said Dung, who insisted that it was “a necessary step in moving forward”.

He suggested it was time a new UN organisation with a structure and mandates similar to the Security Council, the UN Economy Security Council, was established.

This body would be expected to handle major issues such as the relevance and execution of agreed decisions and recommendations, relations between G20 and Bretton Woods institutions, policy-making mechanisms within the UN system including the General Assembly and the Security Council as well as the reforms of those institutions, he said.

Dung also said good regional governance, of which ASEAN was a good example, constituted important foundations for an effective global governance.

Also yesterday, the Vietnamese leader met with President Doris Leuthard of the host country.

Both reached an agreement on the importance of the regular exchange of high-ranking delegations to enhance bilateral ties, particularly in economics, trade and investment.

The Swiss president said she would create favourable conditions for enterprises from both countries to encourage investment and business for mutual benefits, and to take advantage of the huge potential and opportunities the two nations have.

She said she would encourage Swiss enterprises to open their businesses in Viet Nam.

The host president also said Switzerland considered Viet Nam an important partner in Southeast Asia and would continue to keep the country on the priority list for its ODA.

Recognise

Meanwhile, Dung said he would also make good conditions for Swiss enterprises to invest in, and run stable and long-term businesses, particularly in such industries as tourism, banking and finance and technologies in Viet Nam.

The leader suggested the European country recognise Viet Nam as a market economy and support Viet Nam in its effective participation in the multilateral trade system and sustainable expansion of economic, trade and investment ties with Switzerland.

Appreciating Switzerland’s US$21 million ODA commitment to Viet Nam this year, Dung said the country would use this fund effectively to target poverty alleviation, grassroots health care, and agricultural and environmental development.

He said he hoped the Swiss Government would maintain its ODA to Viet Nam in the coming years and expand it to new fields such as governance, high-quality human resources and climate change.

Despite the world credit crunch, total trade between Viet Nam and Switzerland reached almost $3 billion last year, 20 per cent up on 2008. FDI from this European country to its Southeast Asian partner was estimated at about $1.4 billion.

Meanwhile, more than 20 CEOs from world giants met with Prime Minister Dung at the World Economic Forum (WEF) yesterday, highlighting the international business community’s interest in Viet Nam.

They represented top corporations in banking, finance, real estate, energy, construction, telecommunications and medical care.

Addressing the meeting, Dung said Viet Nam saw the world credit crunch not only as a challenge, but also as an opportunity for the global economy to make big changes.

He cited statistics to prove that Viet Nam remained an attractive destination for investment in the post-crisis period. The country’s GDP in 2009 was still higher than that of the region and the whole of the world.

Despite the global economic downturn, the total ODA committed to Viet Nam still reached $21 billion last year and has reached a record of more than $8 billion this fiscal year.

Viet Nam had been pushing administrative reform hard to create a clear environment for economic development, enhancing investment into, and improving the efficiency of projects on infrastructure, human resource development, and science and technology, Dung said.

“The growth of every economy is associated to the success of every single enterprise. Enterprises and investors on entering the Vietnamese market become an integral part of the Vietnamese economy,” he said as he highlighted the country’s priority for economic development in 2010.

On the sideline of the forum, Dung met with CEOs from other companies, including Credit Suisse, Hanwha, Microsoft and Siemens.

He said he appreciated contributions made by the Switz-based Credit Suisse Group in mobilising the biggest amount of international aid for Viet Nam, about $3 million since 2005.

Underwritten

This had helped support Viet Nam Airlines, Viet Nam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group, Electricity of Viet Nam and Viet Nam National Shipping Lines. It had also paid for consultations and underwritten international bonds for Viet Nam.

Credit Suisse CEO Paul Callelo praised the effective measures taken by the Vietnamese Government in coping with the world crisis.

He said Viet Nam would remain a priority on the group’s list for co-operation and development.

Credit Suisse would be ready to support and provide Viet Nam with new financial services and encourage intemational investors to enter this Southeast Asian market.

After the meeting, Dung witnessed the signing of an agreement between Credit Suisse and Kinh Bac Urban Development Corporation, part of the Sai Gon Investment Group, to mobilise $200 million for the Vietnamese partner.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News