Ambassador of Denmark to Vietnam Nicolai Prytz. (Photo: WVR/Thu Trang)

Crown Prince of Denmark Frederik and Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth pay an official visit to Vietnam from October 31 to November 3 at the invitation of Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan. At a press conference before the visit, Ambassador of Denmark to Vietnam Nicolai Prytz underlines the purpose of the visit and the special affection of the Crown Prince for Vietnam.

Could you touch on the purpose and significance of the Denmark Crown Prince's upcoming visit to Vietnam?

The visit of Crown Prince Frederik and his wife is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-Denmark diplomatic ties, which has been postponed for one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The visit gets a huge symbolic value in order to promote comprehensive cooperation between two countries.

Since two countries established diplomatic relations, Denmark has always given priority to promoting relations with Vietnam and become the largest providers of official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam. Today, the two sides maintain to consolidate and strengthen the cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. Energy, agriculture, food safety, health, education are the important areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The development of sustainable sources is one of the main priorities in bilateral friendship and cooperation between two sides. Therefore, the Crown Prince of Denmark's visit focuses on activities to fight climate change. The activities are implemented at the government-to-government level and to attract quality foreign investment attraction.

Renewable energy and how to use energy efficiently are the main topics to be examined during the Crown Prince’s visit. These are two important areas that Danish firms are interested in investing in Vietnam.

Accompanying with the Danish Crown Prince Couple, the Danish business delegation consists of 36 Danish enterprises, including the world’s largest shipping company such as Maersk Line, Lego, Pandora and firms that are leading in wind energy, energy efficiency and shipping line.

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth. (Source: royalportraitsgallery)

What are the remarkable activities of the Danish Crown Prince and Princess during their time in Vietnam?

Within the framework of the official visit to Vietnam, Crown Prince Frederick and Princess Mary will have a courtesy meeting with leaders of the Party and the State of Vietnam. He and his wife also will join a series of conferences and events to promote development, investment, and cooperation in sustainable energy between Vietnam and Denmark.

Some notable activities are the Forum on Sustainable Energy Development between the two countries; Program to promote wind power development in Hai Phong; Program on energy saving and efficient use of energy in Ha Nam; visit to Danish companies in Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong...

Especially, the crown prince will attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Lego factory, with a total investment of more than 1 billion USD in Binh Duong. This is the largest investment in Vietnam made by a Danish company, the 6th largest Lego’s factory in the world and the 2nd factory in Asia. New factory aims to produce the first "lego bricks" in Vietnam by 2024.

The Danish Royal family also has historic ties to Vietnam. Notebly, the father of The Crown Prince lived his first years in Hanoi. Do you know if the Crown Prince also share the same feeling with his father?

Prince Consort of Denmark Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, who is father’s Crown Prince Frederik, lived there for some years. Therefore, Vietnam is a occupies a very big part of him in his heart and his memory. I believe that the bond between Denmark and Vietnam also passed down in the Royal Family, especially Crown Prince Frederik.

Prince Frederik has also visited Vietnam many times and he is looking forward to this return.

In 2018, on the 50th birthday of the Crown Prince, he invited a number of artists, including Vietnamese artists. It illustrates how Vietnam plays an important role in Prince Frederick's heart.

From left to right: Queen of Denmark Margrethe II, Her Royal Highness, Princess Mary Elizabeth and Crown Prince Frederick visited the house at 80 Phan Dinh Phung, Hanoi (where His Royal Highness lived in his childhood years) on November 1, 2009. (Source: VNA)

Vietnam and Denmark have great potential for cooperation in the fields of green development. What do the two countries need to do to turn potential into reality?

Vietnam and Denmark may have different starting points, and are in different positions, but we are in the same way and have the same goal of zero emission by 2050.

Vietnam and Denmark have massive room for further cooperation in the energy field, which has been promoted since 2013.

Vietnam is a strong growing economy and needs energy to make to make growth continue. It was a very courageous decision by Vietnam, in COP 26, to commit to zero emissions in 2050. Denmark would like to team up with Vietnam to achieve those very ambitious goals.

Denmark penned green strategic partnerships with several countries in the world, including India, South Korea and South Africa and we have offered the same to Vietnam. This will be an agreement with many specific projects and a roadmap to achieve the goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.

Many leading Danish enterprises in the field of wind power are waiting for the policy framework to be able to invest in Vietnam.

Thank you very much, Ambassador!

Renewable energy and energy efficiency are the key sectors that Danish investors focus on. (Source: TTXVN)