PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (centre) visits pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca during his trip to the northern European country.—VNA/VNS Photo

Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca will invest VND5 trillion (US$220 million) in Viet Nam in 2020-24, its chairman has said.

Leif Johansson made the announcement during a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 27. The PM was visiting AstraZeneca while on an official visit to Sweden.

He expressed delight at the steady growth of bilateral co-operation and Sweden’s contributions to the development of Viet Nam.

Johansson said his company was honoured to contribute to Viet Nam-Sweden relations, and looked forward to support from Vietnamese authorities.

Phuc promised favourable conditions for Swedish enterprises making long-term investment in Viet Nam.

Phuc said since Viet Nam is drafting its public health strategy, it needs assistance from international partners like AstraZeneca.

According to Swedish Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation Ibrahim Baylan, Swedish firms see Viet Nam as having huge potential in various sectors. Through co-operation in the pharmaceutical industry, Swedish companies would help improve healthcare for Vietnamese, he said.

AstraZeneca opened a representative office in Viet Nam in 1994. It has worked with the Government on the national strategy for prevention of non-communicable diseases in 2015-25. It has also invested tens of millions of dollars in R&D in the country. — VNS