French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee talk during their walk around Hoan Kiem Lake (Photo: VNA)Hanoi, (VNA) – Chairman of Hanoi People’sCommittee Nguyen Duc Chung thanked France for providing ODA for Hanoi to carryout projects in cultural preservation, environmental treatment andinfrastructure, including urban railway, and asked for more ODA loans todevelop transport infrastructure.
Chung made the request during a meeting with French Prime Minister ÉdouardPhilippe on November 3 during the latter’s official visit to Vietnam fromNovember 2-4.
He informed the French PM on Hanoi’s cooperation with Frenchenterprises and localities. At present, 102 French investors are runningprojects in Hanoi with total capital of nearly 300 million EUR. The capitalcity has signed twinning relations agreement with Ile-de-France and Toulousecity, under which the sides have worked together in culture, tourism andmedical human resources.
Hanoi also engaged in medical cooperation with Paris, andconducted several joint schemes with the French Development Agency in thepreservation of cultural heritage and the ancient quarter, waste treatment, andin fighting environmental pollution and adapting to climate change.
The Hanoi leader took the occasion to suggest that Hanoistudents be allowed to study at the Lycée français Alexandre Yersin.
He also proposed partnership in digitalizing database and buildinge-government and smart city.
The French PM shared his admiration of Hanoi’s efforts topreserve its cultural values
He affirmed that Hanoi faces great challenges indevelopment, as it has a big population. France has many firms excelling inurban management so the two sides can cooperate in this field, he said,expressing his belief that Hanoi will be the meeting point of big projectsbetween France and Vietnam.
The PM pledged to do his best to support the cooperationbetween Hanoi and French localities.
Following the meeting, the French PM took a walk at thepedestrian street around Hoan Kiem Lake and visited the Temple of Literature.
Earlier in the day, PM Édouard Philippe and hisentourage made a trip to the northern province of Dien Bien, where he visitedthe A1 Hill in the historic site of the Dien Bien Phu battlefield, and laid awreath at the local cemetery for fallen soldiers.
In the morning of November 3, the French PM and Chairman ofHanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung cut the ribbon to inaugurate the new facilityof the Lycée français Alexandre Yersin in Hanoi’s Long Bien district. Theschool is a French international school under the purview of the Agency for French EducationAbroad.-VNA
VNA
