Ambassador Forum: Swedish H.E. Ambassador to Vietnam Pereric Hogberg

At the Forum, the Swedish H.E. Ambassador to Vietnam Pereric Hogberg had had an initimate conversation on the topic: “The Swedish Model - Why does Sweden have a world-famous welfare state, a smart society, and a feminist foreign policy in 2019?”. 

Attending the talk were the Vice President of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Doctor Le Hai Binh, Doctor Nguyen Tuan Viet, Head of the Department of International Politics and Diplomacy, 3rd and 4th year students, the Faculty of International Politics and Diplomacy and the Institute's research staff.

According to Ambassador Pereric Högberg, Vietnam and Sweden are longtime partners. This year 2019 is also an extremely special year when the two countries together celebrate the 50th anniversary of establishment of Vietnam-Sweden diplomatic relations (January 11, 1969 - January 11, 2019). Sweden was the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam, showing strong support of the Swedish Government and people for the cause of the Vietnamese people.

During the war against the US, Sweden has always been a supportive friend for Vietnam's independence. At that time, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and a large number of Swedish people marched to the streets and strongly demanded an end to the meaningless war in Vietnam. Sweden has become one of the biggest donors to Vietnam during the 1970s and 1990s.

Talking about the country of Sweden, Ambassador Pereric Högberg said that today's success in Sweden is a long process, starting with people who always searching and learning new things. The people of Sweden have always had great ambitions and built everything out of that ambition, never surrendering. In addition, Swedish success mostly comes from the thought of always thinking outside of the box.

Sweden owns a lot of reputable multinational corporations such as Ericsson, ABB, Electrolux, IKEA, Husqvarna, H&M, Tetra pak ... Sweden has its own way of operating its economy, with transparency in managing all aspects of the soc-economic life and the ability to continuously innovate which have created leading companies in the world.

Ambassador Pereric Högberg also gave a brief overview to the DAV’s students about what "feminist foreign policy" that Sweden is implementing in 2019. 

Feminism is not about turning all of its attention to women, but its meaning lies in equality between both sexes. A country can only truly develop when the entire population, both men and women, is involved in national construction and development. That is the reason why Sweden is such a successful country.

The Ambassador Forum lasted nearly 2 hours, ending on a high note between the two sides.