On 19 October 2026, the day after Vietnam’s free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was signed in Hanoi, the main forum day of the Swiss-Viet Economic Forum (SVEF) Hanoi 2026 at Meliá Hanoi brought together government, business, finance and academia. EFTA’s members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Sessions covered infrastructure, energy transition and finance, innovation and artificial intelligence (AI), healthcare, education and talent, and legal frameworks and market entry. For the Swiss delegation supported by Stratburg, the day combined policy insight with targeted introductions to Vietnamese and Swiss counterparts.
Our Managing Partner Marco Förster, Hanoi Representative of SVEF, co-hosted parts of the programme and moderated the session on Mobility and Connectivity Infrastructure.
Building at Vietnam speed
Expressways built at five times the previous pace, Long Thanh and Gia Binh airports, Can Gio port, new metro lines and the North-South high-speed railway: all are advancing at once. The panel tackled one question: how do you deliver at this speed without compromising quality?
The panel
- Yasir Shah (Linxon), with an opening keynote on building at Vietnam speed
- Benoit de Quillacq (MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company), on Vietnam’s place on Europe-ASEAN trade lanes
- Noëlle Meier (Swissrail Industry Association), on high-speed rail, metro lines and planning rail as one integrated network
- Thomas Rechsteiner (Linxon), on why power and substations are becoming the critical path
- Lina Yu (Schindler Vietnam), on accessible, connected urban mobility
- Tran Duc Lan (VSL International), on building faster and safer with fewer hands on site
Key takeaway
Speed is only half the story. Coordination, skills and long-term maintenance decide whether today’s projects still perform in 30 years. The panel made the case for integrated planning, involving experts early and judging projects on their whole lifecycle rather than on build time or upfront cost alone. This is exactly where Swiss-Vietnamese partnerships can make a difference.
Special thanks to Dr Philipp Rösler, President of SVEF, for supporting the panel, and to Rachel Nguyen Isenschmid and the whole SVEF team for bringing it all together.
Further reading
- Hạ tầng Việt Nam: Xây nhanh cần đi cùng kết nối đồng bộ (Mekong ASEAN, in Vietnamese)
- Swiss-Viet Economic Forum outlines eight pillars for its 2026 to 2030 cooperation roadmap (VOV)
- Vietnam’s parliament approves the North-South high-speed railway project (Tuoi Tre News)
More from Stratburg
- On stage with Swiss President Parmelin: Marco Förster co-hosts the SVEF Hanoi 2026 opening
- Stratburg quoted in Bloomberg on Vietnam’s USD 65 billion high-speed rail bet
- Stratburg consortium leads Swiss investment mission to Hai Phong
Working on infrastructure projects in Vietnam? Get in touch.
