Vietnam is a priority country for Switzerland’s economic cooperation and development. The program is implemented by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The country aims to achieve high-income status by 2045, and net-zero emissions by 2050. Structural reforms are necessary to achieve these ambitious objectives. Vietnam’s economy also needs to strengthen its financial stability and enhance the resilience of its exports against external shocks. A resilient economy also needs to be inclusive and minimize the welfare losses of those most exposed to and affected by external shocks. To support this transformation, the cooperation programme 2025-2028 will focus on three key areas: promoting sustainable trade and innovation, fostering sustainable public and private finance, and strengthening climate-smart industrial and urban development.

Towards a resilient high-income economy

Vietnam is a key player in Southeast Asia and a promising market for Switzerland. Vietnam aims to accelerate its economic growth, targeting upper-middle-income status by 2030 and high-income status by 2045 while achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. To reach these goals, the country must transition to a sustainable, inclusive, and innovative growth model, strengthening its financial stability and resilience against external shocks, including climate change and global trade tensions.

In response to these priorities, the Cooperation Programme Vietnam 2025-2028 aims to support the nation’s journey towards a resilient high-income economy. Switzerland will concentrate its efforts on promoting sustainable trade and innovation, fostering sustainable public and private finance, and strengthening climate-smart industrial and urban development. By addressing these critical areas, Switzerland seeks to support Vietnam to build a robust economic framework that not only withstands external shocks, but also promotes long-term growth and environmental and social sustainability.

Switzerland’s Cooperation Programme 2025-2028 for Vietnam prioritizes three thematic areas:

1.  Sustainable trade and innovation 

Vietnam's economy is closely linked to global markets but struggles to retain value from global value chains and improve private sector productivity and innovation. Switzerland focuses on supporting sustainability compliance to improve the quality of Vietnamese exports and enable expansion towards high-end markets. The productivity of domestic businesses will be improved through investments in a skilled workforce and green and digital technologies.  Strengthening the innovation and start-up environment will foster technology transfer and help SMEs compete internationally with sustainable products. 

2.   Sustainable Public and Private Finance

Switzerland aims to deepen the financial sector and strengthen its soundness by enhancing the government’s supervision capacities as well as promoting innovation and digitalization. Financial services and capital markets will be improved. Moreover, sustainable public financial management will be promoted with improved strategic and medium-term planning of expenditures and investments. A focus will also be put on mobilizing more infrastructure investment by improving the framework for public-private partnerships. Then, the quality of private sector investment, which is essential for Vietnam to finance its sustainable growth, will be improved – including the facilitation of access to finance for SMEs and promotion of ESG compliance. 

3.  Climate smart industrial and urban development

Industrial and urban development is essential for Vietnam’s economic growth, driving job creation, infrastructure enhancement, and foreign investment. Switzerland supports Vietnam advancing green industrial transformation by emphasizing circular economy principles and the promotion of Eco-Industrial Park principles. Switzerland aims to increase urban resilience against climate change by improving disaster preparedness and integrating green solutions into urban planning. Furthermore, Switzerland aims to strengthen urban governance with robust regulatory frameworks and the elaborate use of digitalization for sustainable and efficient growth. Additionally, Switzerland aims to promote low-carbon urban development, in particular sustainable transportation and use of renewable energy at the city level.

For more information and project examples please refer to the link below.